West African bloc ECOWAS rejected on Sunday a transition programme announced by Guinea-Bissau’s military rulers and demanded a swift return to constitutional order, warning of targeted sanctions against those obstructing the process.

Army officers in Guinea-Bissau, branding themselves the Military High Command, toppled President Umaro Sissoco Embalo on November 26 and installed Major-General Horta Inta-a as interim president the following day.

Reports mark Guinea-Bissau’s coup as the ninth in West and Central Africa in five years, deepening concerns over democratic backsliding in a region already grappling with insecurity and political instability.

Leaders at the Economic Community of West African States’ annual summit in Nigerian capital Abuja called for the immediate release of all political detainees, including opposition figures, and insisted on an inclusive short transition in Guinea-Bissau.