Amid intervention efforts to reverse the military coup that saw Niger president Mohamed Bazoum ousted two weeks ago, the President of Côte d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, has affirmed that the conciliatory moves were an ECOWAS affair as opposed to a matter between Nigeria and Niger.
Ouattara stated this on Thursday on the sidelines of an extraordinary summit by the Economic Community of West African States in Abuja.
“ECOWAS cannot accept this. This is not a matter of Nigeria against Niger. Not at all,” he said.
“The decision that we have made today — and I hope that it will be implemented immediately — is a decision of ECOWAS.”
According to the Ivorian president, all the heads of state in the West African regional bloc think they have tried dialogue with the Niger putschists.
“I personally consider this as a terrorist act and we cannot let this continue. We have to act. The decision of Cote d’Ivoire, which has been endorsed by all of the heads of state and that we have been able to tell these putschists, is that their place is in the barracks,” he added.
