The deadline for Niger’s military junta to reinstate the country’s ousted president was Sunday, though the regional group that has threatened military intervention faced strong calls to seek more peaceful means.
The Senate of neighboring Nigeria took a position on Saturday against the plan of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and urged the president of Nigeria, the current president of the bloc, to seek alternative options to the use of force. ECOWAS can still go ahead as final decisions are made by consensus of member states, although the warning before the deadline raised questions about intervention.
Algeria and Chad, two neighboring countries that are not part of ECOWAS and have strong armies, have said they oppose the use of force or will not intervene militarily, while Mali and Burkina Faso, governed by military juntas, have said that the intervention would be taken as a “declaration of war”.
Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoumsaid said he was being held “hostage” by the mutinous soldiers. An ECOWAS delegation was unable to meet with the junta’s leader, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, who analysts say led the coup to avoid being replaced. Now the junta has contacted the Russian mercenary group Wagner for help, while cutting security ties with the country’s former colonial power, France.
Hours before the deadline on Sunday, hundreds of youths joined security forces in the dark streets of Niger’s capital, Niamey, to stand guard at a dozen roundabouts until morning, checking cars for weapons and weapons. fulfilling the junta’s call to watch out for spies and foreign intervention.
Some passing cars honked their horns in support. Others called for solidarity between African nations.
At first it was not clear what the regional organization would do. “The bloc should have given 48 hours, instead of a week, to reinstate Bazoum, said Peter Pham, a former US special envoy for the Sahel region and a leading member of the Atlantic Council. “Now it has been extended , which gives the Junta time to entrench itself,” he said. “The most favorable scenario for an intervention would be an aided force within the country,” he said.
The coup has been a severe setback for the United States and its allies, which saw Niger as the last important partner they had in their fight against terrorism in the Sahel, a vast region south of the Sahara desert and where jihadists associated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group have expanded their presence and threaten coastal countries such as Benin, Ghana and Togo.
Meanwhile, uncertainty in Niger has made everyday life worse for some 25 million people in one of the world’s poorest countries. Food prices are rising since ECOWAS imposed economic and travel sanctions after the coup. Nigeria, which provides 90% of the electricity in Niger, has cut part of the supply.
“Just eating is a problem for us. So if there’s a war, that won’t fix anything,” said Mohamed Noali, a Niamey resident who was patrolling the streets.
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated again this Sunday in Niamey to express their support for the coup junta a few hours after the expiration of the ultimatum.
The protesters gathered at the Seyni Kounche stadium – the main one in the African country with a capacity of more than 30,000 seats – which was completely full, and also in the surroundings of the complex, while chanting slogans in support of the coup junta, which calls itself the National Council. of the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP), according to EFE.
“Niger is a sovereign country!, “Cedeao, get out!”, “Down with the illegal and illegitimate sanctions of Cedeao!” and “The people are behind their army for a total emancipation” were some of the slogans that shouted protesters waving the flags of Niger, Russia, Algeria, Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea-Conakry.
The protesters warned that they are ready to fight and sacrifice in the face of any foreign military attack against their country.
They also considered as “traitors” the politicians of the deposed government who rejected the military rebellion and described as a “shame for Africa” ??the Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu, who supports a military option against the coup leaders.
Those attending the protest expressed their willingness to resist the commercial and financial sanctions of ECOWAS, such as the power cuts (supplied from Nigeria) suffered in recent days by several cities in the African country and the closure of some countries such as Nigeria its border with Niger.
And they shouted slogans against France, a former colonial power that currently has a strong military presence in the African country under bilateral cooperation agreements in the fight against terrorism.
In this sense, they called for the immediate withdrawal of the French and Western anti-terrorist forces, and demanded the nationalization of the uranium mines in Niger (a country that is considered one of the main suppliers of this metal to France and the European Union).
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
