A delegation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) arrived Thursday evening, August 3, in Niamey, to try to find a way out of the crisis, eight days after the coup d’etat in Niger which overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum.
The ECOWAS delegation, led by former Nigerian head of state Abdulsalami Abubakar, is to “meet the putschists in Niger to present the demands of the ECOWAS leaders”, according to a statement from the Nigerian presidency.
The President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, current President of ECOWAS, asked him to “do everything” for an “amicable resolution” of the crisis in Niger, after sanctions were taken against this country and an ultimatum addressed to the putschists to restore constitutional order.
ECOWAS imposed heavy sanctions on Niamey and gave the coup plotters until Sunday to reinstate elected President Mohamed Bazoum, who was overthrown on July 26, or risk using “force”.
The elected official, sequestered at his home, spoke through a forum in the American newspaper Washington Post: “I call on the American government and the entire international community to help restore constitutional order, fight for our common values,” he wrote while recalling the “devastating” consequences of the coup, including the “Russian influence” spread by the Wagner Group in the Sahel region.
The West African organization said it was preparing for a military operation, although it stressed that it was “the last option on the table”, as several West African armies, including that of Senegal, say they are ready to intervene if the ultimatum is not respected on Sunday.
Threats of immediate responses
The putschists in Niger have announced that they will retaliate “immediately” in the event of “aggression or attempted aggression” against their country by the Economic Community of West African States. “As ECOWAS is impersonal, any aggression or attempted aggression against the State of Niger will see an immediate and unannounced response from the Nigerien Defense and Security Forces on one of its members, with the exception of suspended friendly countries”, said one of the putschists, alluding to Burkina Faso and Mali.
In an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP), Niger’s ambassador to Washington, Kiari Liman-Tinguiri, called on the junta to “come to reason”. “If Niger collapses, the whole Sahel will first collapse, which will be destabilized (…) and you will have Wagner and the jihadists who will control Africa from the coast to the Mediterranean”, a- he warned before being dismissed from his post by Niamey in the evening.
The military perpetrators of a coup d’etat in Niger announced on Thursday evening that they would “end” the “functions” of Niger’s ambassadors to France, the United States, Nigeria and Togo, in a press release read on television at a time when pressure to restore constitutional order is increasing internationally. If relations are strained between Niamey and the West African bloc, they are also strained with France, a former colonial power.
Like France 24 and RFI, broken ties with France
On Thursday, the programs of RFI (Radio France Internationale) and the news television channel France 24 were interrupted in Niger, “a decision taken outside any conventional and legal framework”, according to the parent company of the two media, France World Media.
The signals of the two media were cut “on instructions from the new military authorities”, a senior Nigerien official told AFP.
France condemned the decision “very strongly” and “reaffirmed its constant and determined commitment to press freedom, freedom of expression and the protection of journalists”, the foreign ministry said in a statement. communicated. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) for its part denounced “a violation of the public’s right to plural information in an already difficult security context in the Sahel”.
RFI and France 24 are already suspended in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, also led by putschists, where the ruling Niger military sent delegations on Wednesday. The cessation of the broadcast of France 24 and RFI comes on the day of the celebration of the 63 years of the independence of Niger from France. Since the coup, relations with Paris have deteriorated. Incidents on Sunday during a demonstration in front of the French Embassy led to the emergency evacuation of more than 500 French people.
The putschists in Niger declared Thursday evening to denounce several military agreements concluded with France, which concern in particular the “stationing” of the French detachment and the “status” of the soldiers present within the framework of the anti-jihadist fight. “Faced with France’s casual attitude and reaction to the situation” in Niger, “the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Fatherland [CNSP, military in power], decided to denounce the cooperation agreements in the field of security and defense with this state,” said one of the putschists.
Evacuations
Access to the French embassy and other nearby chancelleries was blocked on Thursday by Nigerien law enforcement, AFP journalists noted. Before a peaceful demonstration on Thursday, Paris had recalled “that the security of rights of way and diplomatic personnel [were] obligations under international law”.
The former colonial power evacuated 577 of its nationals to Niger on Tuesday and Wednesday. According to junta leader General Abdourahamane Tiani, there is “no objective reason” to “leave” the country.
The United States, Niger’s partners like France, for their part chartered a plane to evacuate their non-essential personnel from Niger, when President Joe Biden called “for the immediate release of President Bazoum”.
The two allies of this country, which has been plagued by jihadist violence for several years, are deploying 1,100 and 1,500 soldiers respectively, whose evacuation is not planned.
Mr. Bazoum, 63, has been held with his family since the day of the coup in his presidential residence. Electricity was voluntarily cut there on Thursday, his party said.
In Niamey, the leader of the putschists, General Tiani, said he rejected the sanctions “en bloc” and refused “to give in to any threat”, in a televised speech on Wednesday. “We refuse any interference in the internal affairs of Niger.”
