Islamic Council cautions ECOWAS against Imposing Sanctions on Niger

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has been forewarned not to impose sanctions on the Niger Republic by the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA).

Recall that on Tuesday, ECOWAS decided to impose financial sanctions on people and organizations it believed were aiding the military junta 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 junta in Niger to restore deposed President Mohamed Bazoum.

The NSCIA stated that the sanctions against the neighboring nation are counterproductive and might ultimately be fruitless in a statement released on Wednesday by Salisu Shehu, its Deputy Secretary-General.

The NSCIA, headed by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Abubakar, urged ECOWAS to hold talks rather than use force to remove the military leaders, saying that neither party would stand to gain from such a move.

The Islamic council acknowledged that the coup leaders’ stance was defiant but called for dialogue in order to deal with them. The NSCIA also expressed opposition.

According to Gistlover, the Sultan of Sokoto was a member of an ECOWAS delegation that traveled to Niger to negotiate with the country’s military junta and was led by the former head of state and military, Abdulsalami Abubakar.

However, the meeting was unsuccessful because the junta rejected the delegation’s requests.