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ECOWAS leaders will gather on Thursday for an emergency conference on the Niger coup, after the country’s military chiefs refused an ultimatum to reinstate the elected president.
Two weeks after Mohamed Bazoum was deposed in a coup, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) says it is pursuing a diplomatic solution but has not ruled out the use of force to resolve the conflict.
According to a statement issued by the 15-nation organization on Tuesday, important decisions would be made at the meeting in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.
Struggling to stem a cascade of coups among its members since 2020, the bloc gave the troops who seized power on July 26 until last Sunday to reinstate Bazoum or face the potential use of force.
But the coup leaders remained defiant and the deadline passed without action.
According to a proclamation read out on national television on Thursday, the military chiefs named a new government in their latest show of defiance against international pressure.
Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine will lead the 21-member administration, with defense and interior ministries headed by generals from the new military ruling council.
The prospect of military intervention in Niger, a fragile country that ranks among the poorest in the world, has provoked debate within ECOWAS as well as concerns from neighboring Algeria and Russia.
Both Mali and Burkina Faso, who are run by military administrations that seized power in coups, have declared that such intervention would be a declaration of war on their countries.
Hopes for ‘real discussions’ –
On Tuesday, a bid to send a joint team of ECOWAS, UN and African Union representatives to the capital Niamey was rejected by the coup leaders.
The nomination of a new prime minister by the coup leaders earlier this week appeared to signal the start of a transition to a new government.
But in a twist on Wednesday, a former emir of the Nigerian city of Kano revealed that he had met with the coup leaders to help mediate the crisis.
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi told Nigerian state television he had spoken to coup leader General Abdourahamane Tiani and would deliver a “message” to Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, though he was not an official government emissary.
“We came hoping that our arrival will pave the way for real discussions between the leaders of Niger and those of Nigeria,” said Sanusi, who is known to be a close friend of Tinubu.
Nigeria, the current ECOWAS chair, is adopting a hard line against last month’s coup, Niger’s fifth since independence from France in 1960.
Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo warned before going to Abuja on Wednesday that the existence of ECOWAS was at jeopardy due to coups in four member countries: Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
Bazoum stressed that coups must be prohibited because he is Niger’s sole recognized president.
‘Deplorable living conditions’
The leader of the United Nations added to a chorus of concern about the welfare of 63-year-old Bazoum, who has been detained by members of his presidential guard since July 26.
Antonio Guterres denounced “the deplorable living conditions that President Bazoum and his family are reported to be living under”, according to a UN statement.
According to CNN, Bazoum was placed in isolation and made to consume dry rice and noodles.
Countries in the Sahel area are fighting a jihadist insurgency that began in northern Mali in 2012, moved to Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015, and is now creating concern in Gulf of Guinea states.
The murderous campaign has been catastrophic for those three countries, which have tumultuous histories and are among the world’s poorest.
Bazoum’s victory in 2021 helped Niger strengthen ties with France and the United States, both of which have significant bases and troop deployments in the country.
NewsofAfrica reported that France last year withdrew its forces from Mali and Burkina Faso after falling out with their military leaders, refocussing its anti-jihadist strategy on Niger.
