Any attempt to remove Tchiani-led military junta?by force will escalate tension — TUC warns

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has condemned the?resolve of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to deploy a?Standby Force to Niger to restore democracy.

According to TUC, any attempt to remove General Omar Tchiani-led military junta?in Niger by force will further escalate the tension and insecurity in the?region.

The TUC in a statement issued by the Secretary-General, Dr. Yaw Baah said there was simply no reason for ECOWAS to wage a war in?Niger, more so when there was no consensus among ECOWAS members.

It said a war in Niger or anywhere in the region has a very great potential to create the environment for more insurgents?and even more coup d’etats in the region, which may lead to further instability?and insecurity adding that none can impose democracy on any country until and unless the people?themselves are ready for it.

The TUC believed that through diplomacy, constitutional order?could be re-established in the Republic of Niger if ECOWAS leaders engaged the?military junta in good faith, with clean hearts and clear minds.

Earlier, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had agreed to ECOWAS' decision to deploy troops to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.

The President of ECOWAS, Omar Alieu Touray made the declaration while reading the resolution of ECOWAS on the Niger coup at the ECOWAS Extraordinary meeting in Abuja.

ECOWAS leaders leaned toward a diplomatic solution, reserving military action as a last resort. The deadline for the junta to reinstate the elected president passed without change, with some neighboring countries supporting Niger's military.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Dr. Abdel-Fatau Musah, Commissioner of Political Affairs, Peace and Security for the ECOWAS Commission, has indicated that constitutional order will be restored in Niger using all available measures.

Speaking at the Extraordinary Meeting of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff on the political situation in the Republic of Niger in Accra on Thursday, August 18, 2023, Dr. Musah said the military junta in Niger is playing a cat-and-mouse game with the ECOWAS, explaining that they failed to respond positively to ECOWAS diplomatic efforts.

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