Two Western diplomats informed The Associated Press that a senior US ambassador claimed the Niger junta had threatened to kill ousted President Mohamed Bazoum if other nations tried to intervene militarily to restore his authority.
They spoke with the Associated Press just before the West African grouping ECOWAS announced that it has directed the deployment of a “intervention force” to restore democracy in Niger after its deadline to reinstate Mr. Bazoum on Sunday passed. For ECOWAS and the junta, which has demonstrated a willingness to scale up its measures since assuming power on July 26, the threat to the former president raises the stakes.
In order to confront the jihadist violence associated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State organization, which has murdered thousands of people and displaced millions more, Niger was viewed as the final country in the Sahel region, south of the Sahara Desert, with whom Western powers could cooperate. The country’s leadership dilemma is being urgently addressed by the international community in a peaceful manner.
During her visit to the nation this week, US Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland was informed on the threat to Bazoum by Junta officials, a Western military official said. Under the same condition of secrecy, a US official confirmed this knowledge.
Threats coming from both sides are escalating the situation, but there is hope that a discussion is becoming more likely, according to Aneliese Bernard, a former US State Department representative with a focus on African issues who is now the director of Strategic Stabilization Advisors, a risk advising firm. She cautioned, “But this junta has stepped up its measures so quickly that it is feasible that it will do something even more harsh, as it has been the case so far.
On Thursday, nine senior figures from the 15 West African nations met in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, to discuss the following steps. Following the discussions, Omar Alieu Touray, the president of the ECOWAS commission, stated that he could only reiterate the choices made by “the military authorities of the sub-region to send a force of ‘community intervention’.
“Appropriate action has been taken,” he added, adding that funding has been negotiated. Omar Alieu Touray attributed the challenges brought on by the sanctions placed on Niger to the junta and declared that additional action would be taken jointly by the European Union. It’s not one nation vs another. All of the community’s members have subscribed to certain instruments, he said.
According to a former British army officer who served in Nigeria, the ECOWAS announcement may be interpreted as the go-ahead to begin mobilizing their forces in an effort to restore constitutional order. The officer claimed that only Nigerian forces were in place at the time regarding the use of force. Nigerian military are unlikely to invade the nation without help and cooperation from other regional armies.
The junta severed ties with France and took advantage of public resentment of the former colonial power. She also requested assistance from the Wagner Group, a Russian company with operations in a few African nations and a history of allegations of violating human rights. Wagner and other lines of influence are being used by Moscow to delegitimize Western countries.
According to Ms. Osborn, these strategies include using social media to disseminate incorrect information, organize rallies, and create rumors. She highlighted a message sent on Telegram on Wednesday by a person purporting to be Alexander Ivanov, a Wagner agent, in which he claimed that France had started the “mass abduction of children” who may be exploited for sexual and/or slave labor. To AP’s inquiries, neither Wagner nor the Russian government provided a response.
In the meanwhile, the sanctions are having an effect on the estimated 25 million residents of Niger. The capital city of Niamey has frequent power outages and some districts have just limited access to energy. Up to 90% of the nation’s electricity comes from Nigeria, which has cut off a portion of the supply.
Hamidou Albade, 48, claimed that since the coup, there has been no electricity, making it impossible for him to run his store in the Niamey suburbs. He also drives taxis, but he lost business as a result of the departure of many of his foreign clients. It’s incredibly challenging, I remain home and do nothing, he remarked. Despite this, he backs the junta. “We are suffering now, but I am confident that the junta will find a solution to the problem.”
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