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The coup raised fears that Niger, a former French colony, could become a sphere of influence for Russia
Article informationAuthor, Farooq Chautia and Haruna Tangaza Role, BBC News Reporting from London and Pooja30 July 2023
Last updated 1 hour ago
Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have threatened military action against Niger’s military junta, after it seized power in a coup last week.
ECOWAS leaders gave the junta seven days to reinstate detained President Mohamed Bazoum.
Earlier, Niger’s military junta warned that it would resist any “plan of aggression against Niger” by regional or Western powers.
Meanwhile, hundreds of coup supporters demonstrated in front of the French embassy in the capital, Niamey.
Leaders from ECOWAS held crisis talks in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, on Sunday to discuss the latest coup — which follows military coups in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso.
A statement read out by the summit said ECOWAS had “zero tolerance” for coups.
The statement added that the regional bloc will take “all necessary measures to restore constitutional order” if its demands are not met within a week.
“Such measures may include the use of force,” and the army commanders will meet “immediately” to plan an intervention, according to the statement.
The Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel attended the meeting, and said that ECOWAS has taken firm action, because the events in Niger are worrisome.
“Niger plays a major role in the fight against terrorism, and if Niger stops playing this role, this will give more space and more freedom of movement for terrorists to expand in the region,” Dr. Leonardo Santos Simao told the BBC News programme.
He added that “there are no official negotiations” between ECOWAS and the country’s military junta.
This is the first time that ECOWAS has threatened to take military action against the coups that have taken place in the region in recent years.
The last time ECOWAS authorized military intervention was in 2017, when Senegalese troops were deployed to The Gambia to force longtime ruler Yahya Jammeh from office after he refused to accept defeat in elections.
Chad announced that its president, Mohamed Idriss Deby Itno, had gone to Niamey to ask the military council to step down from power.
He is the first leader to visit Niger since the coup, and has met the vice president of the ruling military junta, General Salifu Modi.
Circles close to Bazoum said that Deby “spoke to General Abd al-Rahman Chiani, head of the presidential guard forces, who declared himself the new ruler of Niger.
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Junta deputy leader General Salifu Modi (right) met the Chadian president (left).
The ECOWAS leaders also announced an immediate no-fly zone over Niger on all commercial flights, the closure of all land borders with the country, and the imposition of financial sanctions on the junta.
Before their meeting, General Chianyi warned the ECOWAS group and unnamed Western countries not to interfere.
“To ECOWAS or any other adventurer, we repeat once again our firm resolve to defend our homeland,” the statement, broadcast on Nigerian television, said.
The coup raised fears that Niger, a former French colony, could become a sphere of influence revolving around Russia.
The ousted president worked closely with regional and Western countries to combat Islamic militants.
Burkina Faso and Mali became closer to Russia, after two coups took place in them.
In the Nigerien capital, Niamey, hundreds of coup supporters demonstrated in front of the French embassy after France cut aid, some chanting “Long live Russia”, “Long live Putin” and “Down with France”.
They also set fire to the walls of the French embassy compound.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said in a statement that France would not tolerate any attack on its interests in Niger and would respond “immediately and rigorously”.
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Coups occurred in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, members of ECOWAS
Western countries condemned Niger’s coup, but the leader of the Russian mercenary company Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, welcomed it, if he described it as a victory, according to reports.
He was quoted as saying on a Telegram platform, linked to Wagner, that “what happened in Niger is nothing but the struggle of the Nigerian people with their colonialists”, and his statements have not been independently verified.
And in Mali, the junta asked the Wagner Group to help it fight Islamist militants.
France announced the withdrawal of its forces last year, amid escalating hostility from the military junta, in Mali.
After that, it moved its regional military headquarters to Niger.
In June, Mali’s military junta said its 12,000 UN peacekeepers must leave, after a decade fighting Islamist militants.
The United Nations, at the time, agreed to this decision, and confirmed that the withdrawal process would be completed by the end of the year.
On Saturday, France suspended all development aid and financial support for Niger, and the European Union and the United States took a similar decision.
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2023-07-31 00:22:30
