The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has lifted all commercial and economic sanctions imposed on the Republic of Niger.

The country last year deposed its democratically elected leader, Mohammed Bazoum prompting a drastic response from the ECOWAS which had declared zero tolerance for unconstitutional changes in government.

Already, Niger together with Mali and Burkina Faso has announced that they were exiting the regional bloc owing to inhumane sanctions.

But at an extraordinary summit today, February 24 in Abuja, Nigeria, ECOWAS stated that it was lifting all sanctions off Niger while expecting that established protocols of free movement within the bloc will remain unchanged.

Speaking at a news conference, the President of the ECOWAS commission, Omar Alieu Touray explained that the decision is aimed at addressing existential threats facing the region and called on the three junta-led nations that have quit the bloc to rescind their decision.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu who doubles as the chairperson of the ECOWAS heads of state stressed that the existential threats faced by the sub-region demands that leaders re-examine their approach to constitutional order.