African Union has issued an ultimatum to the leaders of the Niger coup

General Abdourahamane Tchiani has shown no signs of abandoning power, despite threats of penalties.

The African Union has given Niger’s military junta 15 days to disband and reinstate deposed President Mohamed Bazoum, threatening “punitive measures” if they do not.

The African Union Peace and Security Council decried the “alarming resurgence” of coups throughout the continent in a statement issued on Friday. The bloc demanded that the soldiers that deposed Bazoum “return immediately and unconditionally to their barracks and restore constitutional authority, within a maximum of fifteen (15) days.”

If the military does not cooperate, the council says it would take “necessary action, including punitive measures against the perpetrators.”

Bazoum was detained by members of his security detail on Wednesday, and top military officials subsequently announced that he had been removed from power and that all state institutions had been suspended. General Abdourahamane Tchiani, who has led the Nigerien presidential guard since 2011, declared himself the new national leader on television on Friday.

The coup comes after two successful military takeovers in Burkina Faso last year, as well as coup attempts in Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Sao Tome & Principe, and Sudan since the beginning of 2022. The turmoil in Burkina Faso and Mali coincided with the termination of France’s long-running anti-insurgency effort in the Sahel region, which had been deemed unsuccessful by locals.

Around 1,500 French troops remain in Niger, but their future deployment is uncertain following the ouster of Bazoum, who was supported by the French government.

French President Emmanuel Macron praised Bazoum as a “courageous leader,” saying Paris will support regional countries in imposing penalties on the coup plotters. The European Union suspended financial aid to Niger on Saturday, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken threatened to cut off Washington’s “substantial” aid to the country.

On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called the coup a “anti-constitutional act.”

Tchiani’s men have shown no signs of relenting. Following a meeting with government servants on Friday, senior junta official Gen. Mohamed Toumba told reporters that “the message given was not to stop the processes that are underway, but to keep on with things,” and that “everything that must be done will be done.”

Crowds of Tchiani supporters besieged the French embassy in Niamey on Sunday, escalating the tension on the ground. Despite Moscow’s denunciation of the coup, the embassy’s door was set on fire, and some in the mob waved Russian flags. Macron’s office warned that France “will not tolerate any attack against France and its interests,” and that it will “respond in an immediate and intractable manner” if its diplomats or nationals are injured.