
News
ECOWAS leaders order standby force to move against Niger coup plotters, say all options open including ‘use of force’
West African heads of state have said all options including the use of force remained on the table to restore constitutional order in Niger after the July 26 coup, and ordered the activation of its standby force.
The remarks came as the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met in Nigeria’s Abuja on Thursday for an emergency summit to discuss responses to last month’s military takeover in Niger, after the coup leaders defied their earlier threat to use force to restore democracy.
In closing remarks, the bloc pledged to enforce sanctions and travel bans on those preventing the return to power of democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
“No option is taken off the table, including the use of force as a last resort,” said Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, the ECOWAS chair, at the end of the summit.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to supporting Niger in the journey towards peaceful democratic stability,” he said.
“I hope that through our collective effort we can bring about a peaceful resolution as a roadmap to restoring stability and democracy in Niger. All is not lost yet.”

Since the July 26 overthrow of Niger’s democratic leadership, the coup plotters have refused to relinquish power and release detained Bazoum, ignoring an August 6 deadline from ECOWAS to reinstate him.

The meeting in Abuja began hours after Niger’s coup leaders appointed a new interim government. Mahamane Roufai Laouali, cited as “secretary general of the government”, named 21 ministers, without specifying any further government plans.
After Tinubu spoke, an official communique was read out which included a resolution asking the bloc’s defence chiefs to “activate the ECOWAS Standby Force with all its elements immediately”.
Another resolution spoke of ordering “the deployment of the ECOWAS Standby Force to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger”, immediately followed by another that spoke of restoring such order “through peaceful means”.
ECOWAS defence chiefs last week drew up plans for possible military intervention in Niger, which the heads of state discussed during Thursday’s summit. The summit communique gave no indication of when or under what circumstances a deployment within Niger might take place.
It is unclear if there were any representatives from Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali, whose military heads of state have sided with Niger, at the summit. However, the presidents of Mauritania – a founding ECOWAS member which withdrew from the bloc in December 2000 – and Burundi were in attendance, according to Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris, reporting from Abuja.
Idris said a source close to one of the mediation missions sent to Niger told Al Jazeera that the coup leaders want sanctions eased to aid the flow of medicine and food supplies and restoration of electricity.
But it remains unclear if ECOWAS will accede to any such demands as the bloc continues to seek Bazoum’s reinstatement.
“If the coup is allowed to succeed, it could dent the image of ECOWAS and make it look weak … and that could pose a serious threat to democracy, something that leaders here are eager to avoid,” Idris said.
Bazoum’s party has said the detained leader and his family are being held at the presidential residence without electricity or running water and had gone days without fresh food. This led to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres call Bazoum’s “his immediate, unconditional release and his reinstatement as Head of State,” a UN spokesperson said on Wednesday.
‘A lot is at stake’
Military intervention is something ECOWAS officials have said would be a last resort.
The bloc also said it would enforce all measures, in particular, “border closures, travel bans, and assets freeze, on all persons or groups of individuals whose actions hinder all peace efforts in ensuring the smooth and complete restoration of constitutional order”.
Earlier, Sadeeq Garba Shehu, a security analyst and adjunct professor at the Marshall European Centre for Security Studies, said the ball was in ECOWAS’s court after the coup leaders “called the bluff” on the bloc’s seven-day deadline.
“It’s a very decisive moment for ECOWAS and its leaders,” he told Al Jazeera from Abuja. Pressing ahead with the option of the use of force “is a position that is fraught with dangers and uncertainties”, Shehu said.
“First, will there be acceptance by all the members to put their money where their mouth is? How many of the ECOWAS members are ready to do that? How many are ready to finance that?” Shehu added, noting that West African leaders had to also consider domestic pressures from their countries’ own populations.
But ECOWAS could still stick to its decision to see a democratic government in place in Niamey, Idris said.
“A lot is at stake because the way things are, people are really concerned about the spate of coups in West Africa, five in less than three years … in Burkina Faso and Mali, democratic timelines have been shifted several times and now we have Niger,” he said. “The situation in those countries has emboldened the coup leaders in Niger … and could encourage ambitious soldiers [elsewhere] to take up arms and depose democratic governments.” (Additional report by Al Jazeera)
News
Group asks court to disqualify Tinubu from 2027 Election over alleged Certificate Forgery
The Centre for Reform and Public Advocacy (CFRPA) has filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Kano seeking the disqualification of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from the 2027 presidential election over allegations of certificate forgery.
According to court documents seen by Daily Trust, the plaintiff alleged that Tinubu presented forged academic certificates from Chicago State University and a fake National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the 2023 elections.
The suit, marked FHC/K/CS/312/2026, lists Tinubu, INEC, and Chicago State University as defendants.
The plaintiff contended that Tinubu never attended Government College Lagos as claimed, noting that the school was established in 1974, four years after Tinubu allegedly graduated.
The CSO further argued that Tinubu does not possess a valid secondary school certificate, which is the minimum constitutional requirement to contest for the presidency.
It claimed that INEC had failed to act on its petition dated June 19, 2026, demanding clarification on Tinubu’s eligibility.

In its statement of claims, the group referenced a 2023 U.S. court ruling in Re: Application of Atiku Abubakar (No. 23 CV 05099), which compelled Chicago State University to release Tinubu’s academic records.
The plaintiff insisted those records revealed false entries and inconsistencies, including a forged University of Cambridge General Certificate of Education.
The prayers asked by the plaintiff included declaration of forgery against Tinubu’s Chicago State University certificate, issuance of an order directing INEC to disqualify him from the 2027 presidential election, directing CSU to strike Tinubu’s name from its records and perpetual injunction restraining INEC from uploading Tinubu’s name as a candidate.
The plaintiff also submitted affidavits of non-multiplicity of action, witness statements, and letters to the NYSC and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, demanding disclaimers on the alleged fake NYSC certificate.
News
Firm expresses concern over repeated missing Court File in Ojukwu Property case
Ojukwu Transport Limited, OTL, has raised concerns over what it described as the repeated absence of court records in its ongoing property dispute with Bianca Ojukwu and her sons, even as it filed a motion for stay of execution pending the determination of its appeal.
Proceedings before Justice A.M. Lawal of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja, last Monday were stalled for the second time in six weeks due to the unavailability of the case file.
The matter was adjourned after the file was reportedly not returned to court.
A similar situation occurred on May 8, 2026, when the case could not proceed because the file was unavailable.
OTL alleged that the file had been taken from the Ikeja Judicial Division to Lagos more than two months ago for the execution of a warrant and had not been returned.
The claimants’ legal representatives were absent from court on both occasions.

Describing the development as troubling, OTL said the repeated absence of the file had effectively stalled proceedings and raised questions about accountability in the handling of court records.
Amid the delays, the company disclosed that it had filed and served a motion for stay of execution at the Court of Appeal, seeking to halt enforcement of the judgment pending the determination of its appeal against the 2022 decision in Suit No. LD/1539/2012.
OTL maintained that the application became necessary because steps were being taken to enforce the judgment despite its pending appeal.
The company also contended that the properties in dispute had previously been the subject of a warrant of execution arising from a separate judgment delivered in 2018 by Justice Adedayo Oyebanji in Suit No. LD/794/2011.
The case was subsequently adjourned to October 8, 2026.
Present in court on both adjourned dates on behalf of Ojukwu Transport Limited was one of its directors, Dr. P. Ike Ojukwu.
Counsel to OTL are Ifeanyi Okumah Esq and Chief O. Ugolo, SAN, while Bianca Ojukwu and her sons are represented by Nick Omeye Esq and Co.
News
DSS releases, compensates man wrongfully arrested over alleged links with Boko Haram
The Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi, has ordered the immediate release of a man wrongfully linked to Boko Haram terrorists.
The setting free followed a DSS investigation review panel that cleared Nura Idris of allegations of collaboration with Boko Haram terrorists.
Aside from giving Idris N3 million monetary compensation to meet his immediate needs, the DSS DG promised to help the wrongfully detained herder in his business, a practice common with the DG.
According to a security source, the farmer and animal rearer from Soba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, was arrested by a sister security agency in Suleja, Niger State, in June 2024, for alleged links with terrorists, and was thereafter transferred to DSS custody.
Following a thorough review of Nura’s case, the DSS investigation panel found no basis for the charges against him, prompting the DGSS to order his immediate release and payment of compensation.
Receiving the compensation, Nura thanked the DGSS for what he described as a kind gesture, saying the money would help him restart his life.

“I thank the DGSS for his kindness. I was well treated in DSS custody and I pray that Allah rewards the DGSS immensely,” the source quoted Nura as saying.
His father, Yusuf Idris, who received Nura upon his release, also expressed appreciation to the DGSS for his compassion and generosity, and assured that the compensation would be put to good use.
“When such cases are recorded, the DSS would usually follow up with the detainee, provide psychological and medical support, after which the Agency would further set up any business of the victim’s choice”, another source disclosed.
The release is part of an internal review exercise which the DSS began last year. The exercise is aimed at reassessing prolonged inherited cases to ensure that erroneously detained individuals do not remain in detention.
“The setting free and compensations across multiple cases underscores the DSS’s growing reputation for institutional integrity and humanness,” added the source.
“The Service under the current DG, has continued to show that safeguarding national security and citizens must go hand in hand with upholding the rights and dignity of citizens,” declared the source.
“Recall the case of Sunday Ifedi and his wife, Calista who were arrested on 8th November 2021 and detained in Wawa facility, three years before the appointment of the current DG in August 2024,” added the source. Sunday was released on 16th December, 2025, after the review of detainees ordered by the DG cleared him of ties with the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the DG awarded him N10 million as compensation.
“Importantly, plans are underway by the DSS to rebuild a restaurant in memory of Ifedi’s wife, Calista, who died while in custody in a detention facility in Wawa. The initiative is to compensate Sunday for the allegations that his late wife operated a restaurant being patronized by IPOB, for which they were arrested. This brings to bear, over thirty cases that have since been reviewed with over N300m paid as compensation,” the source disclosed.
It would also be recalled that, barely one month after ordering the release and payment of N10 million compensation of one Abuja-based business woman, Mrs. Chineze Ozoadibe, in October 2025, the DSS boss ordered the release of one Kenneth Okechukwu Nwafor, arrested in July 2022, for his alleged involvement in the activities of the proscribed IPOB. Five other detainees wrongfully linked to IPOB were by the same directive of the DG, released and each given an initial N2 million cash compensation. Last month, the DSS also released a Yobe State resident, Ya’u Mohammed, after investigations confirmed that he had no connection to terrorism.
Following his release, the Service provided initial financial support worth N2 million to assist his reintegration and restoration of his livelihood.
“There are many more instances where DSS investigations have established innocence and have been followed by efforts to facilitate reintegration,” stated the source, adding, “these are the kind of measures the DSS is using to build public trust.”
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