West African summit on Niger coup starts with chair prioritising diplomacy

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu said West African leaders should try all diplomatic routes to ensure a swift return to constitutional rule in Niger, including dialogue with the coup leaders there, as a summit of heads of state began on Thursday. In his role as chair of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Tinubu kicked off the summit in the Nigerian capital Abuja by saying that it was crucial to prioritise diplomacy as the bedrock of the bloc’s approach. FRANCE 24’s Chinwe Ossondu reports from Lagos, Nigeria.