A colonel in the Malian army identified as Assimi Goita has declared himself as the head of a group created by rebels in the country; the ‘National Committee for the salvation of the people’.
This is coming days after WITHIN NIGERIA reported that hours after Malian President was arrested by troops in a sudden coup following months of prolonged political crisis in Mali, the President of the African country identified as Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on Wednesday has resigned from office.
The colonel, Goita announced his new position after a meeting with top civil servants on Wednesday — he was one of the five soldiers who announced the formation of the salvation committee earlier on Wednesday.
Recall that WITHIN NIGERIA also reported that Mali President Ibrahim Boubakar Keïta has been arrested by mutinying soldiers, a government spokesman has confirmed to the BBC. Prime Minister Boubou Cissé has also been arrested, despite earlier appeals for “brotherly dialogue”.
The entire political crisis started when a court ruled on the nullification of the results of 31 seats in the April parliamentary elections in Mali and also awarded victory to other contenders for the position.
According to report, the court’s decision had sparked reactions, which a resistance group — the June 5 movement known as the M5-RFP — had claimed was a result of Keita’s influence, and in July, there were riots in which some protesters were killed by security agents.
The group had also called for the president’s resignation.
In July, former President Goodluck Jonathan was appointed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as envoy to Mali to mediate on the crisis.
Shortly afterwards, an ECOWAS delegation — including President Muhammadu Buhari — visited Mali for discussions on restoring peace in the country, but the talks did not yield results.
Following Keita’s forced resignation, ECOWAS has suspended Mali from the organisation.
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