Nigeria is calling for the release of ousted Niger president Mohamed Bazoum and for the military junta to allow him to leave for a third country, its foreign minister said. Nigeria is current chair of the regional group Economic Community of West African States or ECOWAS which has imposed sanctions on Niger following the July coup that ousted Bazoum. "We are asking them to release President Bazoum so that he will be allowed to leave Niger," Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar told local Channels TV news in an interview published on its website at the weekend. Last month, a failed coup attempt left 21 dead in Sierra Leone, another member of ECOWAS, according to senior officials in the country. ECOWAS member Guinea-Bissau's President Umaro Sissoco Embalo on Saturday said violence this week involving members of his country's National Guard was an "attempted coup".

Source: Ethiopian News December 03, 2023 16:04 UTC