Heads of State and ECOWAS have reacted to the Gambian government’s statement that it has foiled a coup attempt and arrested four soldiers from the Gambian defence and security forces.
Indeed, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has “strongly” condemned the attempted overthrow of the democratically elected government in The Gambia, adding the ECOWAS Commission’s “rejection of any unconstitutional change of government in any member state”.
Moreover, the leaders of ECOWAS member states met in early December in Nigeria and decided to create a regional force to intervene in the event of a coup, especially since 2020, there have been coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and coup in Guinea-Bissau.
For his part, the president of the Republic of Senegal, Macky Sall, current chairman of the African Union, denounced, through a post on his Twitter account, “the attempt to destabilise” the Gambian government, stressing that “the African Union rejects any seizure of power by force of arms”.
On the other hand, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs ‘Quai d’Orsay’ has “strongly” condemned the attempted “coup de force” against President Adama Barrow.
The names of the arrested soldiers were revealed by Gambian government spokesperson Ebrima Sankareh in a statement posted on the Gambian presidency’s Facebook page, where it was stated that three other Gambian defence and security forces officers, who allegedly participated in the failed coup, have fled.