Mr Sidie Tunis, the Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, has said the punishment on Niger Republic will be suspended if the military junta releases President Mohamed Bazoum.

The Speaker gave the assurance when a 19-man delegation from Africans Without Borders paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.

The visit was to make the parliament support the lifting of sanctions on Niger to ameliorate the suffering of ordinary people in the country.

The speaker charged the delegation to make the junta release Bazoum and his family without any condition and set a short transition to returning the country to constitutional governance.

According to Tunis, regardless of several efforts made by the bloc, there has not been a positive result since the military junta removed the democratically elected government in Niger.

“We are more interested in what is happening in Niger, we have sent delegation to investigate the situation after the military coup, but we need you as citizens to help to lessen the effect with your intervention as well.

“We represent you as Members of the ECOWAS Parliament; citizens diplomacy in my opinion is the best form of diplomacy that if used well can solve a whole lots of problems, not only in this sub-region but in the entire continent of Africa.”