ECOWAS, Nigerian delegations pay President Bio solidarity visit

Delegates from the Economic Community of West African States and the Government of Nigeria paid a visit to Sierra Leone President Julius Bio on Monday.

The delegation, including Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, Chief of Defence Military Intelligence Major General Emmanuel Udiandeye; and President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray, among others, conveyed a message of solidarity and commitment towards preserving democracy and good governance.

This was made known in a statement shared by the Sierra Leone President, Julius Bio, on his X account on Monday.

Sharing photos from the visit he said, “This afternoon, I received a high-powered delegation from the ECOWAS Commission and the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (#NGRPresident), including, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, Nigeria’s Chief of Defense Staff, General Christopher Musa, Chief of Defence Military Intelligence Major General Emmanuel Udiandeye, and President of the #ecowas_cedeao, Dr Omar Alieu Touray, among others.

“They conveyed a message of solidarity from the Chairman of the ECOWAS Committee of Heads of State and President of #Nigeria, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu (#officialABAT) as well as that of the other ECOWAS Heads of State and Government.

“The Delegation reiterated the #ECOWAS Member States’ commitment towards preserving democracy and good governance across the sub-region while assuring of their readiness to work with our Government towards forestalling any future security occurrences.

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“#My Government’s commitment to democracy, justice, the well-being and safety of our citizens remains unwavering. #SierraLeone’s leadership position in key institutions across the globe will be preserved.

“We are deeply thankful for the tremendous outpouring of support from key allies around the region and world. We shall continue to work towards preserving and promoting the priceless peace that we have enjoyed as a country since the end of our unfortunate decade-long civil war 21 years ago.”

Early on Sunday, armed assailants stormed a military armoury and several prisons, sparking battles with security forces that lasted for hours in the capital.

Sierra Leone is an English-speaking West African country that has been going through a political crisis following elections in June.

On Monday, the government lifted the daytime curfew that it had imposed and urged people to resume their daily lives while remaining vigilant.

It said a curfew would remain in place between 9:00 pm (2100 GMT) and 6:00 am.