Fresh sanctions have been imposed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu due to the coup in Niger Republic.
The regional bloc had given the Niger junta seven days to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum or risk sanctions, including possible military action.
The coupists have refused to be intimidated by ECOWAS and have vowed to resist any foreign intervention on their soil.
It also severed ties with Nigeria, Togo, France and the US and shut down Nigerian airspace indefinitely.
At the end of the ultimatum, the bloc scheduled a meeting for Thursday to review the situation in the West African nation.
Ajuri Ngelale, Tinubu’s spokesman, said more sanctions had been imposed on the individuals and entities relating to the military junta in the Niger Republic.
His words:
“I can also report that following the expiration of the deadline of the ultimatum and standing on the preexisting consensus position of financial sanctions meted out on the military junta in Niger Republic by the bloc of ECOWAS Heads of State, His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered an additional slew of financial sanctions through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on entities and individuals related to or involved with the military junta in Niger Republic.
“The ECOWAS mandate and ultimatum is not a Nigerian ultimatum. It is not a Nigerian mandate, and the office of His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, also serving as the chairman of ECOWAS, seeks to emphasize this point.
That due to certain domestic and international media coverage, tending toward a personalization of the ECOWAS sub-regional position to his person and to our nation individually.
“It is because of this that Mr President has deemed it necessary to state unequivocally that the mandate and ultimatum issued by ECOWAS is that of ECOWAS’s position.
“The regional bloc is made up of all sub-regional ethnic groups, religious groups, and all other forms of human diversity. And the response of ECOWAS, therefore, represents all of these groups, and not any of these groups individually.”
