President Mohamed Bazoum’s son, Salem, is seriously ill, ECOWAS leaders were told at their meeting on Thursday, according to an official present at the meeting.
West African leaders were told Salem had lost about 10 kilograms since he was detained with his father after the July 26 coup in Niger.
ECOWAS and other international organizations and countries have demanded the release of Mr. Bazoum and Mr. Salem, as well as all the civilians detained by the junta after the coup in Niger.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a phone call with former Niger president Mohamed Issoufou, expressed “grave concern” over the continued detention in “deteriorating conditions” of President Bazoum and his family, according to a US statement.
“The secretary shared that he is particularly shocked by the refusal of those who seized power in Niger to release members of the Bazoum family as a show of goodwill.”
Bazoum has been held in the presidential palace in Niamey since July 26 with his wife Hadiza and Salem.
Mr Bazoum’s daughter, Zazia Bazoum, told the UK Guardian that her family lives in a very difficult situation. She said that her parents had lost five kilos each and her brother ten.
ECOWAS felt humiliated by the junta’s actions towards the delegation headed by Abdulsalami Abubakar, and reiterated during the meeting that it was an insult to the bloc and to Abdulsalami Abubakar, former Nigerian military head of state, the source told this newspaper.
Newslodge reported how the junta leaders prevented the ECOWAS delegation, led by Mr. Abubakar, from leaving the Niger airport and meeting either the coup leaders or Mr. Bazoum.
At Thursday’s meeting, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and others called for the deployment of force in Niger to restore constitutional status.
President Alassane Ouattara reportedly told heads of state in the closed-door meeting that his government was ready to mobilize $150 million to support the troop deployment.
He later told reporters in Abuja as he was leaving the meeting that he considered Mr. Bazoum’s detention an act of terrorism that ECOWAS cannot allow to continue.
“We do not accept, we will not accept coups d’état and I believe that these coup plotters should leave if they do not let Bazoum out to be able to exercise his mandate. I think we should go ahead and get them out,” Ouattara said.
ECOWAS Heads of State at the end of the closed-door meeting vowed to use force to evict the junta in Niger if it remains recalcitrant.
ALSO READ: ECOWAS versus Niger: Who is fooling whom?, by Femi Fani-Kayode
As part of their decisions, ECOWAS leaders ordered “the committee of the defense chief of staff to activate the ECOWAS reserve force with all its elements immediately.”
Defense chiefs will meet to finalize plans on how to proceed with the deployment, the source said, adding that things will be clearer by the next week.
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