Defence Chiefs from Mali, Niger, Guinea Bissau, Burkina Faso, and Guinea are conspicuously absent from the meeting currently ongoing in Abuja.

Defence Chiefs from Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal, The Gambia, Cote D’Ivoire, and Cape Verde are in attendance at the meeting, which is taking place at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja.

The meeting which commenced at 12:30 pm is presided over by the Nigeria Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa.

The meeting is coming after the seven-day ultimatum issued by the Economic Community of West African States following the military coup in Niger Republic.

The Commander of Niger’s Presidential Guards, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, had last Friday, toppled a democratically elected government in the country.