Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari leads ECOWAS delegation to the Gambia tomorrow

Liberia President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson (left), President Muhammadu Buhari, President Macky Sall of Senegal and former Ghanaian President John Mahama at the special ECOWAS summit on The Gambia at the State House, Abuja…yesterday PHOTO: PHILIP OJISUA

• Heads of state insist Jammeh must quit
• Government shuts fourth radio station

President Muhammadu Buhari would tomorrow lead another delegation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) leaders to The Gambia to discuss with President Yahya Jammeh on the need to respect the constitution and step aside.

The ECOWAS delegation includes the Chairperson, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, President of Sierra-Leone, Bai Koroma, and co-Mediator, former President of Ghana, John Mahama
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This was the outcome of a meeting hosted by President Buhari in Abuja yesterday where the leaders insisted that the embattled President Jammeh ‎must respect the will of the people and step aside in line with that country’s constitution.

Briefing State House correspondents after the closed doors meeting, which lasted over four hours, Minister of Foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyema disclosed that it was aimed at facilitating a speedy resolution of The Gambia political crisis in a manner that conforms with the country’s constitution and respect for the will of the people of that country.

He said that members at the meeting ‎particularly raised concern at the deteriorating situation that has been reported in respect of security in The Gambia, the closure of some of the radio stations and media houses.

Meanwhile, Gambian authorities have closed Paradise FM, the fourth radio station to be shut since last week, one of its presenters said yesterday.The closure came hours after Paradise FM had interviewed a spokesman of a coalition backing president-elect Adama Barrow, to whom Jammeh has refused to cede power after losing the December 1, 2016 election. The closure followed those of Teranga FM, Hilltop FM and Afri Radio. The authorities have not given an explanation for any of the closures.