West African bloc says it has plans for possible Niger intervention

WEST AFRICAN MILITARY chiefs have agreed a plan for a possible intervention in Niger, as a deadline nears for the country’s junta to restore civilian rule, an official from regional bloc said this evening.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Sunday gave the junta General Abdourahmane Tchiani, that toppled elected president Mohamed Bazoum in a 26 July coup, one week to restore him or face the potential use of force.

ECOWAS military chiefs were meeting in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, to discuss ways to respond to the crisis.

“All the elements that will go into any eventual intervention have been worked out, including the resources needed, and including the how and when we are going deploy the force,” said ECOWAS commissioner Abdel-Fatau Musah.

“We want diplomacy to work, and we want this message clearly transmitted to them that we are giving them every opportunity to reverse what they have done,” he added.

Niger’s junta has vowed to respond “immediately” to any foreign intervention and has been holding Bazoum and his family in his official residence in the capital Niamey for nine days.

The military-ruled governments in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso have said an intervention in Niger would be tantamount to a declaration of war against them.

Nigeria, which currently chairs ECOWAS, is taking a hard line against coup plotters after the putsch in Niger, the latest to hit Africa’s Sahel region since 2020.

Earlier, Tchiani said the country would sever military agreements with France, its former colonial ruler, and fired some of the previous government’s key ambassadors and warning citizens of the West African nation to watch for foreign armies and spies.

On Wednesday morning, the first planes carrying French and other European citizens evacuated from Niger and landed in Paris, a week after the coup began.

On Tuesday, Irish officials said they are continuing to monitor the worsening situation in the African country but did not give specific numbers of Irish people in the Sahel area.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said that they were engaging with European countries and other States to determine if an evacuation was required. 

© AFP 2023

-With reporting by Muiris O’Cearbhaill and Niall O’Connor