Niger’s elected president Mohamed Bazoum predicted “devastating consequences” in the region if the coup succeeds in his country and appealed to the international community for help, with the putschists promising an “immediate response” to ” any aggression.
Tension has risen further in the country, as the deadline given by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to restore constitutional order approaches. Late Thursday, August 3, in a press release read on television, the putschists denounced “the cooperation agreements in the field of security and defense with France”, a military contingent of which is deployed in Niger. And they promised an “immediate response” to “any aggression” from an ECOWAS country, excluding Mali and Burkina Faso, suspended “friendly” members, also led by putschists.
These announcements came shortly after the arrival of a delegation from the West African bloc in Niamey to try to find a way out of the crisis, eight days after the coup d’etat in Niger which overthrew Mohamed Bazoum on July 26. He spoke on Thursday evening, in a column published by the american daily washington post. He warned of the “devastating” consequences of the coup for the world and the Sahel, which he said could come under the “influence” of Russia through the paramilitary group Wagner. “I call on the US government and the entire international community to help restore constitutional order,” he wrote, “as a hostage,” in his first public statement since his overthrow.
ECOWAS, which imposed heavy sanctions on Niamey, gave the putschists until Sunday to restore Mohamed Bazoum, under penalty of potentially using “force”. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, also current president of ECOWAS, however asked Abdulsalami Abubakar, head of the delegation, to “do everything” to find an “amicable resolution”.
The organization, which notably suspended financial transactions with Niger, said it was preparing for a military operation, even if it stressed that it was “the last option on the table”. ECOWAS chiefs of staff are meeting in Abuja until Friday. Several West African armies, including that of Senegal, say they are ready to intervene if the ultimatum is not respected on Sunday.
“Return to Reason”
Relations are strained between Niamey and the West African bloc, and are also strained with France, a former colonial power. The Nigerien ambassador in Paris was also sacked by the putschists, as were those in the United States, Togo and Nigeria.
Thursday, the programs of Radio France Internationale (RFI) and the news television channel France 24 were interrupted in Niger, “a decision taken outside any conventional and legal framework”, according to the parent company of the two media, France Media World. The signals of the two media were cut “on instructions from the new military authorities”, a senior Nigerian official told AFP. France “very strongly” condemned this decision. RFI and France 24 are already suspended in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, where the ruling Niger military sent delegations on Wednesday.
Mali and Burkina Faso have claimed that any armed intervention in Niger would be considered “a declaration of war” on their two countries.
Evacuations
Incidents on Sunday during a demonstration in front of the French embassy in Niamey led to the evacuation on Tuesday and Wednesday of 577 French people. Thousands of demonstrators supporting the ruling junta marched peacefully through the streets of several Nigerien cities on Thursday, at the call of M62, a coalition of “sovereignist” civil society organizations. Many of them chanted slogans critical of France and waved flags of Russia – which Mali and Burkina have already approached.
Access to the French embassy and other nearby chancelleries was blocked on Thursday by the Nigerien police, AFP journalists noted. Before the demonstration, Paris had recalled “that the security of rights of way and diplomatic personnel (were) obligations under international law”. According to the leader of the junta, General Abdourahamane Tiani, there is “no objective reason” to “leave” the country.
The United States, partners of Niger like France, for their part chartered a plane to evacuate their non-essential personnel in the country, when President Joe Biden called “for the immediate release of President Bazoum”.
The two allies of this country, which has been plagued by jihadist violence for several years, are deploying there respectively 1,100 and 1,500 soldiers, whose evacuation is not planned. Mohamed Bazoum, 63, has been detained with his family since the day of the putsch in his presidential residence. Electricity was voluntarily cut there on Thursday, his party said.