Coups d’etat: Osinbajo leaves for ECOWAS extraordinary summit in Accra

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is to depart Abuja on Thursday for Accra, Ghana, to represent Nigeria at an Extraordinary Summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.

Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement in Abuja, said the summit would  deliberate on the political situations in Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea.

The meeting is coming as part of the resolutions reached at last week’s virtual meeting chaired by Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo.

It will review the report of the ECOWAS delegation despatched to Quagadougou to meet with the military junta who recently seized power in Burkina Faso.

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The summit will be attended by regional leaders who will be considering imposing additional sanctions after the country was suspended from the regional body the previous week.

On Jan. 24, soldiers forced the removal of democratically elected President Roch March Kabore from office in a military coup.

The military takeover of government in Burkina Faso follows the same occurrence in Mali and Guinea recently.

President Muhammadu Buhari has been delegating the vice president to represent Nigeria at a series of ECOWAS leaders’ summits on the issues of undemocratic, military takeover of governments in the region.

Osinbajo will be accompanied by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Amb. Zubairu Dada, Presidential Special Adviser on Economic Matters, Dr Adeyemi Dipeolu and other top Nigerian diplomats.

The vice president is expected back in Abuja later on Thursday.

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NAN reports that on Jan. 28, members held an extraordinary summit on the political situation in Burkina Faso.

NAN reports demands the immediate release and protection of President Roch Kabore and all the other political detainees;

Members demanded the immediate restoration of constitutional order by the militaries and urges them to remain republican by focusing on the role of safeguarding the territorial integrity of the country;

Members instructed the commission to facilitate the deployment of a joint ECOWAS Ministerial Mission to Burkina Faso, to assess the political situation and submit their report to the Authority of Heads of State and Government. (NAN)