Tension In Niger As ECOWAS Leaders Gather For Key Summit

Tension In Niger As ECOWAS Leaders Gather For Key Summit

Leaders from the West African regional group ECOWAS are scheduled to convene an emergency summit on Thursday to address the coup in Niger, following the military’s refusal to comply with an ultimatum to reinstate the elected president, Mohamed Bazoum…CONTINUE READING

Two weeks after the coup that ousted Bazoum, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has indicated it seeks a diplomatic resolution but hasn’t ruled out the potential use of force to resolve the crisis.

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The gathering in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, is expected to yield significant decisions, according to a statement from the 15-member organization on Tuesday.

ECOWAS, dealing with a series of coups among its members since 2020, had given the military forces that took control on July 26 a deadline until the previous Sunday to restore Bazoum to power, or face potential military intervention. However, the coup leaders remained defiant, and the deadline passed without any action taken.

As a sign of their resistance to international pressure, the coup leaders announced a new government through a decree broadcast on national television on Thursday. The 21-member administration will be led by Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, with generals from the newly formed military governing council overseeing the defense and interior ministries.

The prospect of military intervention in Niger, a fragile nation ranking among the world’s poorest, has sparked debates within ECOWAS and drawn warnings from neighboring countries like Algeria and Russia. Neighboring nations Mali and Burkina Faso, both governed by military regimes that came to power through coups, have indicated that intervention in Niger would be considered an act of war against their countries.

Efforts to send a joint delegation comprising representatives from ECOWAS, the United Nations, and the African Union to the capital, Niamey, were rejected by the coup leaders on Tuesday. The coup leaders had recently named a new prime minister, suggesting a transition to a new government.

In a surprising twist on Wednesday, a former emir of the Nigerian city of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, revealed that he had met with the coup leaders in an attempt to mediate the crisis. Sanusi stated that he had spoken to coup leader General Abdourahamane Tiani and intended to deliver a “message” to Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, though he wasn’t an official government emissary.

Nigeria, the current chair of ECOWAS, has taken a firm stance against the coup that occurred last month. This marks the fifth coup in Niger since its independence from France in 1960.