West Africa military chiefs ready to intervene after Niger coup

Accra, Ghana – AFP

West African military chiefs said on Friday they were ready for an armed intervention in Niger after a coup ousted President Mohamed Bazoum last month, but a diplomatic mission was possible over the weekend to keep talks open.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has agreed to activate a “standby force” as a last resort to restore democracy in Niger after generals toppled and detained Bazoum on July 26.

ECOWAS defence chiefs met this week in the Ghanaian capital Accra to fine-tune details of a potential military operation to restore Bazoum if ongoing negotiations with coup leaders fail.

“We are ready to go any time the order is given,” said Abdel-Fatau Musah, an ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs and security.

“The D-Day is also decided.”

“We are ready to resolve the issue peacefully but it takes two to tango.”

ECOWAS leaders say they have to act after Niger became the fourth West African nation since 2020 to suffer a coup, following Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.

– ‘Grave consequences’ –

Bazoum, whose 2021 election was a landmark in Niger’s troubled history, has been held with his family at the president’s official residence since the coup, with growing international concern over his conditions in detention.

ECOWAS chair and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Friday threatened Niamey with “grave consequences” if the new regime allows Bazoum’s health to worsen under house arrest, an EU official said.

During a call to EU chief Charles Michel, Tinubu noted: “President Bazoum’s detention conditions are deteriorating.”

“Any further deterioration to his well-being status will have grave consequences.”

Michel had renewed the European Union’s “full support and backing of ECOWAS’ decisions, as well as firm condemnation of the unacceptable coup de force in Niger”.

Niger’s military-appointed prime minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, told The New York Times that the coup leaders would do Bazoum no harm.

“Nothing will happen to him, because we don’t have a tradition of violence in Niger,” the most senior civilian in the new regime told the newspaper in an interview from Dakar.

– Militarily risky –

Details of the Niger operation have not been released and analysts say any intervention would be politically and militarily risky, especially for regional player Nigeria.

Nigeria is already struggling to contain violence from several armed groups at home, and leaders in the country’s north have warned about spillover from Niger across the border if there is an intervention.

Niger’s coup leaders have warned against any military strikes and defiantly threatened to charge Bazoum with treason. But they have also said they are open to talks.

The military-ruled governments in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso have also said an intervention in Nig

ECOWAS has already applied trade and financial sanctions on Niger while France, Germany and the United States have suspended aid programmes.