The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has said most of its member states are ready to participate in a standby force that could intervene in Niger following a coup there late last month.

Defence chiefs from the 15-member regional bloc met in Accra on Thursday as part of the latest efforts to overturn the removal of Mohamed Bazoum, Niger’s president who was deposed in a July 26 coup.

Moreover all member states except those under military rule and Cape Verde are ready to participate in the standby force, ECOWAS commissioner Abdel-Fatau Musah said on Thursday.

Therefore, this meeting to discuss Niger’s crisis comes after an August 6 deadline passed for mutinous soldiers to release and reinstate Bazoum or face military intervention. Bazoum remains under house arrest with his wife and son in the capital, Niamey.