The Nigerian government has kicked against a military coup that reportedly took place in Mali.
The interim President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane of the country have been reportedly detained by soldiers at the Kati Military Camp near the Capital, Bamako, since Monday.
Their detentions followed a government reshuffle earlier on Monday that was designed to respond to growing criticisms against the interim government.
Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ferdinand Nwonye expressed the position of the government in a statement on Tuesday.
The statement demanded an ‘unconditional release’ of the of the detained officials.
“The action is totally unacceptable and might derail the peace-building efforts and timetable for the return of democratic governance in Mali,” the statement read in part.
Nwonye explained that the key actors and perpetrators of the condemnable act should be aware of the fact that stakeholders in the region and friends of Mali rejected any act of coercion of the detained officials, including forced resignations.
The military’s action has also triggered condemnation by many, including the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is calling for calm and their unconditional release.
“I am deeply concerned by news of detention of civilian leaders of the Malian transition. I call for calm & their unconditional release,” Guterres said on Twitter.
The European Union has condemned what it described as ‘kidnapping’ and also demanded for their unconditional release.
The Council’s President Charles Michel said that what happened was grave and serious, and the union was ready to consider necessary measures.
Earlier, a joint statement by the United Nations, African Union, Economic Community of West African States, the European Union, and the United States had condemned the arrests and called for their ‘immediate and unconditional liberty.’
In August last year, the military toppled the democratically elected government of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita after months of anti-government protests in the country.
An interim and a transitional government was constituted following the intervention of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) led by the former Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan.
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