After the most recent coup in the jihadist-infested Sahel area alarmed the continent and the West on Sunday, African leaders warned the junta in Niger one week to abdicate or face the potential use of force and imposed financial sanctions on the putschists.
The military has been holding Mohamed Bazoum, the elected president of Niger and an ally of the West, since Wednesday in what is the third coup to topple a leader in the Sahel in as many years.
The formidable presidential guard’s commander, General Abdourahamane Tiani, has proclaimed himself in charge.
Bazoum is one of the few remaining elected presidents and pro-Western figures in the Sahel, where coups in Mali and Burkina Faso have been the result of jihadist insurgency since 2020.
Following the coup, former colonial powers France and the European Union withdrew their financial and security assistance to Niger, while the United States issued a warning that its own assistance would be at risk.
The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc demanded Bazoum’s reinstatement within a week at an emergency session held in Nigeria.
.If not, the bloc threatened to use “all measures” to reestablish the rule of law.
In a statement, it warned that “Such measures may include the use of force for this effect,” and that the ECOWAS defense chiefs would convene on Sunday.
It was unclear at first how ECOWAS may resort to force. The union decided to establish a regional security force to combat extremists and avert military coups last year.
Financial penalties were also imposed by the bloc on the junta’s officials and the nation of Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries that frequently comes in last on the UN’s Human Development Index. The group froze “all commercial and financial transactions” between member states and Niger.
Niger junta member Amadou Abdramane stated the summit’s goal was to “approve a plan of aggression against Niger, in the form of an imminent military intervention in Niamey” in a statement played out on national television on Saturday night.
He stated that the intervention would take place “in cooperation with certain Western countries and African countries that are not members of the regional body.”
Thousands of protesters waved Russian and Niger flags outside the national parliament in the nation’s capital Niamey on Sunday.
They then proceeded to the French embassy, where they sang “long live Putin” and “down with France,” according to an AFP correspondent, before being dispersed by soldiers using tear gas.
Tear gas was used to disperse those who attempted to storm the embassy.
Many protesters marched in the direction of the American embassy.
France denounced the attack on its mission, threatened retaliation if its persons or interests were targeted, and pledged assistance for all regional efforts to bring order back to Niger.
The French presidency stated that if someone were to assault French citizens, the army, diplomats, or French interests, France would reply immediately and implacably.
According to Tiani, “the degradation of the security situation” prompted the putsch in Niger.
Tiani claimed that the coup in Niger was a reaction to “the degradation of the security situation” brought on by Islamist violence, corruption, and other problems.
Punitive actions have already started in the West following a wave of condemnation of the coup.
France, which has 1,500 soldiers stationed in Niger, announced on Saturday that it was stopping its budgetary and development assistance to the West African country.
Both President Bazoum’s reinstatement and “an immediate return to constitutional order” were demanded.
In the meantime, Josep Borrell, the diplomatic chief of the European Union, declared that the EU would not recognize the putschists and that budgetary aid to Niger would be suspended indefinitely.
Borrell echoed the foreign minister of France when he declared that the EU was prepared to support any future decisions made by ECOWAS, “including the adoption of sanctions”.
Bazoum has received the unwavering support of the US, which has approximately 1,000 troops in Niger, and a warning that those holding him are “threaten[ing] years of successful cooperation and hundreds of millions of dollars of assistance.”
Additionally, the military in Niger has been given two weeks by the African Union to reestablish “constitutional authority”.
It expressed its strong condemnation of the coup in “the strongest terms possible” and grave worry about the “alarming resurgence” of military coups in Africa.
Despite having large uranium deposits, the landlocked Niger frequently comes in last on the United Nations’ Human Development Index.
Since obtaining independence in 1960, it has seen a volatile political history, with four coups and countless additional attempts, including two prior against Bazoum.
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