ABUJA
West African defence chiefs have planned for military action if Niger’s coup is not overridden by Sunday, the regional bloc said on 4 August, after discussion failed in a crisis that is threatening regional security and has brought in global powers.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has provided Niger’s coup leaders until Sunday to bow down and re-establish elected President Mohamed Bazoum. The bloc has taken a hard standpoint on last week’s revolt, the seventh coup in West and Central Africa since 2020.
According to the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, The United States administration has rested specific foreign assistance programs that help Niger’s government but will proceed with giving humanitarian and food assistance.
As per the intervention plan, the decision of when and where to attack will be made by heads of state and will not be disclosed to the coup plotters, Abdel-Fatau Musah, ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, said in a statement.
Abdourahamane Tiani, the 59-year-old coup leader, served as battalion commander for ECOWAS forces at the time of conflicts in Ivory Coast in 2003, so he could be aware of what such intervention missions involve.
Bazoum, 63, who was elected as Niger’s President in 2021, said in his first response since the coup began that he was a hostage and in need of U.S. and international support. “If it (the coup) succeeds, it will have devastating consequences for our country, our region and the entire world,” he said.
The Western donors have stopped their assistance in protest, even though Niger relies on aid for 40% of its annual budget. Regional countries have also laid economic sanctions.
In addition to this, Russia’s private mercenary group, Wagner, is likely to take advantage of the situation. “With an open invitation from the coup plotters and their regional allies, the entire central Sahel region could fall to Russian influence via the Wagner Group, whose brutal terrorism has been on full display in Ukraine,” Bazoum wrote.