The decision was announced yesterday by the ECOWAS, at an urgent meeting following the increasing tension stirred by the military actors who are attempting to take over in Niger.
The move which includes air and land border closure, is seen as a crucial reaction to the recent dominance of the junta, which has stirred significant unrest in the country and poses a threat to political stability within the region.
The ECOWAS leadership believes that the imposition of a no-flight zone will help curb the junta’s influence and hinder any potential allies from providing aerial support, even as leaders of the coup fear that the regional body could stage an imminent military intervention in the capital of the Sahel country.
In addition to the no-flight zone, the regional body has agreed on immediate financial sanctions over the coup.
Speaking at the emergency meeting which he presided over yesterday, President Bola Tinubu who serves as Chairman of the ECOWAS denounced the coup by military leaders in Niger Republic, saying Africa has come of age.
Meanwhile; West African leaders yesterday gave the military junta in Niger Republic one week to cede power, warning they did not rule out the “use of force”, and imposed immediate financial sanctions.
The fifteen-nation Economic Community of West African States demanded the “immediate release and reinstatement” of Niger’s elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, who has been held by the military since Wednesday.
ECOWAS said if their demands are not met within one week, it take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger.
The bloc in a joint statement after its emergency summit in Abuja, said such measures may include the use of force.
