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Top military leaders from several West African countries have agreed on possible intervention in Niger as a deadline approaches for the country’s junta to restore civilian rule. It follows an extraordinary summit of the regional bloc ECOWAS in Nigeria’s capital Abuja.
On 30 July the Economic Community of West African States gave the junta who toppled elected president Mohamed Bazoum in a coup earlier the same week, one week to restore him or face the potential use of force. Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security of ECOWAS, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, said that chiefs of defense staff and their teams have worked round the clock to come up with a concept of operation for an eventual military intervention in the Republic of Niger to restore constitutional order and to ensure the release of the detained President.
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Nigeria, which currently chairs ECOWAS, is taking a hard line against coup plotters after the military takeover in Niger. Niger’s junta has vowed to respond immediately to any foreign intervention and has been holding Bazoum and his family in his official residence in the capital Niamey for nine days. The military-ruled governments in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso have said intervention in Niger would be tantamount to a declaration of war against them.
