Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Niamey (Fides News Agency) - "We are profoundly worried for the sub-regional tensions in connection with Niger's political situation", wrote the members of the Reunion of Episcopal Conferences in West Africa, in a statement released on the eve of the meeting in Abuja (Nigeria) today, August 10, of the bloc that will have to decide on the course of action after the expiry of the ultimatum given by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to the putschist junta in Niger.
"In view of the events happening in our sub-region, it is our moral, spiritual and pastoral duty to address this letter of appeal to all the actors involved - directly or indirectly - in the management of this crisis, to urge everyone to exercise moderation, discernment and responsibility. The life of our West African peoples is at stake, the Catholic Bishops of West African countries underline, and their statement joins those of the Episcopal Conferences of Nigeria, and Burkina Faso and Niger (see Fides 7/8/2023).
Recalling the West's intervention in Libya (2011), the Bishops underlined the uncertainties of an act of force in Niger. "We, your pastors, firmly believe - and the history of peoples teaches us this - that violence solves no problems, not even the ones that caused it to explode in the first place. We affirm and insist with the ECOWAS and the African Union, to affirm that at the moment, any military interventions in Niger would complicate the situation of the people of Niger and the sub-region, rather than bring them solutions". "Terrorism already has its macabre tribute of widows, orphans, of the displaced, the starving, the maimed, etc. Populations don't expect regional and African institutions to add to that" the statement concluded, referring to the Jihadi terrorism afflicting Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and important parts of Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the putschist junta has formed a new government presided over by civil Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, former manager of the African Development Bank in Chad and former chief of staff for Niger's ex-President Mamadou Tandja. (L.M.) (Fides News Agency 10/8/2023)
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