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Nigeria's President and Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Bola Tinubu, has revealed that he's deploying back-channel strategies to avoid bloodshed in the Niger Republic.
Tinubu said this when he hosted the French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday, November 3, 2023.
In the wake of the coup that deposed President Mohamed Bazoum, ECOWAS imposed several sanctions on the Niger military junta and also threatened to unleash its military on the nation to restore democratic order.
However, the Niger military leaders gird their loins, forming a military alliance with neighbouring countries in preparation for a possible military invasion by the regional bloc.
Despite activating its standby force for a possible incursion, ECOWAS never made good on its threat to invade Niger and instead opted for diplomatic dialogue to resolve the political impasse.
Meanwhile, President Tinubu has now disclosed that he decided to pull the plug on the earlier military intervention to avoid a bloodbath in the neighbouring country.
“Leadership is about responding to the needs of the people; their cries, and their frustrations. Nigeria shares a border with Niger across the expanse of seven Nigerian states, and most of these states are very populated. Therefore, I need to guide ECOWAS carefully and steadily so that we manage our anger carefully,” he said.
”We have a colleague and a democratically-elected leader, President Bazoum, being used as a human shield. If we are not careful, he and his family can be endangered.
”I am deploying all appropriate back-channel strategies to avoid bloodshed in Niger Republic. We recognize the wishes of our people; they do not want war, but that does not mean we cannot take bold and decisive action,” the president added.
In her remarks, Colonna conveyed French President Emmanuel Macron's goodwill message to Tinubu while also commending the latter's leadership in handling the ECOWAS affairs.
“We support your efforts at ECOWAS. We are behind you because we believe that constitutional order is a treasure for all countries, and democracy must be a reality,” said the French envoy.