African Leaders under their umbrella Africa Peace Mission to Ukraine and Russia while in their meeting in St Petersburg, Russia condemned the coup detat in the Republic of Niger and called on the military establishment to ensure the safety of President Mohamed Bazoum.
The meeting was chaired by President Museveni and attended by Senegalese President Macky Sall, Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, and Zali Assoumani of Comoros.
The Presidents called for the return of the military forces to their barracks and to ensure the speedy restoration of the democratic order in Niger.
“We reject unlawful seizure of power by any group or individual as it undermines democracy, creates instability and reverses development in our continent,” a statement signed by the five of them reads in part.
Already the ECOWAS, the African Union and the United Nations have called for all parties to return to constitutional rule urgently and to refrain from further interference with the democratically elected government of the Republic of Niger. The Africa Peace Mission committee also reiterated the calls.
“We make this call as we gather in St. Petersburg to forge closer ties with the Russian Federation and to continue with the peace mission that we started last month. In this regard, we will be meeting with President Vladimir Putin to further discuss actions that can be taken on confidence-building measures that will set both Russia and Ukraine on a path to peace.”
“Our commitment to the end of this conflict, which has claimed lives and increased our continent’s food insecurity does not blind us to equally devastating developments within Africa.”
Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum has been ousted from office by a group of soldiers hours after members of his guard detained him at the presidential palace in the capital, Niamey, throwing the country into political turmoil.
Colonel Amadou Abdramane, the spokesperson of the group, said on Wednesday that defence and security forces had decided to “put an end to the regime that you know due to the deteriorating security situation and bad governance”.
The military takeover is the fifth successful coup in the West African nation’s history since it gained independence from France in 1960, with other unsuccessful attempts in between.
