The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has received a warning from the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) against imposing sanctions on the Niger Republic. Recall that on Tuesday, ECOWAS decided to apply financial sanctions on people and organizations it suspected were aiding the military regime in the West African nation.
The sanctions are the most recent in a series of stringent measures that ECOWAS, which is presided over by President Bola Tinubu, has put in place to pressure the military coup in Niger into restoring the ousted President Mohamed Bazoum. Salisu Shehu, the NSCIA’s deputy secretary-general, said in a statement on Wednesday that the sanctions against the neighboring nation are counterproductive and might ultimately be fruitless.
The NSCIA, headed by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Abubakar, urged ECOWAS to hold talks instead of threatening to use force to remove the military leaders, saying that doing so would not serve anyone’s interests.
The NSCIA also expressed its disapproval. The Islamic Council advocated for discussion in order to deal with the coup leaders, although acknowledging their belligerent attitude. According to Punch , the Sultan of Sokoto traveled to Niger as a member of an ECOWAS team led by former military head of state Abdulsalami Abubakar to engage with the government there.
However, the meeting was unsuccessful since the junta rejected the delegation’s requests.
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