In Niamey, Niger, emotions are mixed. Residents say they are determined or worried, on the eve of a possible intervention by West African forces against the ruling junta. But many of them are speaking out against a military operation with potentially devastating consequences.
The capital is a stronghold of opponents of the deposed regime of President Mohamed Bazoum, still held hostage by the military. And in the dusty alleys of the Boukoki district, the prospect of an intervention by Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) forces is greeted with defiance. “We are going to fight for this revolution, we are not going to back down from the enemy, we are determined”, insists Adama Oumarou, resident of the district. “This blow, we’ve been waiting for it for a long time. When it arrived for us, it was a sigh of relief! she assures.
A determination widely shared in these alleys lined with stalls where the jerks of sewing machines resound.
“If ECOWAS intervenes, it will make the situation even worse. But the people are ready and the population will support the new leaders, because we want change,” said Jackou, a textile trader, sitting inside a shop with faded walls.
The putsch is experienced as a release for many small traders struggling with a gloomy economic situation in a country ranked among the poorest in the world, after twelve years of power of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS).
Faced with a political class deemed to be corrupt, the national army has retained its prestige. And in the event of war against the forces of ECOWAS, victory is beyond doubt. “We trust our soldiers!” says Abdoulaye Issaka, seated behind his sewing machine, amid piles of tangled fabrics. “We have the support of Mali, Burkina, it has strengthened us a lot”, assures this craftsman, while Bamako and Ouagadougou have warned that “any military intervention against Niger would be considered a declaration of war” against them.
More than a military defeat considered improbable, it is the prospect of a fratricidal conflict that worries. In this popular district, many shops are run by expatriates from neighboring Nigeria: they say they fear reprisals in the event of intervention by the forces of their country. “We don’t need this conflict,” said Muhammad, a fashion designer who has lived in Niger for five years. “We know the people of Niger will be angry, they will look at us as enemies. If something happens, we will go back to Nigeria,” he said.
“My parents called me to come back home, but I’m staying, I’m not afraid,” said Mustapha Ousmane, an employee in Abdoulaye Issaka’s shop. A Nigerian colleague pretends to slit his throat with his thumb, and bursts out laughing.
It is still joking time and the prospect of a conflict between “brother” countries remains unimaginable for the nationals of the two nations, who maintain close commercial, linguistic and family ties. “If the ECOWAS countries take up arms, they will kill their brothers, and we will kill them too, and then how will we look at each other? It does not make sense ! Jackou breathes.
“Where am I going to go?” I don’t have the means to defend myself, we only have our fingers to pray, “said the young woman, fatalistic. Hindu therefore relies on God, like many inhabitants of a 98% Muslim country, where religion unites when politics divides.
“We pray to Allah to protect our country. In mosques, at home, in the streets, every moment,” says Adama Oumarou. Faced with uncertain tomorrows, phlegm dominates and a formula comes back in everyone’s mouths: “God only knows… Inch’allah!” »