On the eve of a deadline set by regional powers to reinstate the elected government, Niger’s ousted prime minister told Reuters on Saturday that he was still holding onto the dwindling hope that last week’s military coup could be reversed through diplomacy.
The western Sahel area, one of the poorest in the world and strategically important to international powers, has been shaken by the military coup in Niger, the seventh in West and Central Africa in the past three years.
If the leaders of the coup do not restore elected President Mohamed Bazoum, who is being detained by the military at his mansion in Niamey, by Sunday, defence chiefs from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have prepared a plan for military intervention.
Their promise has increased the possibility of more fighting in a region where a deadly Islamist insurgency has claimed thousands of lives and caused millions to leave.
Algeria, Niger’s northern neighbour, declared on Saturday that it vehemently opposes any military action in Niger.
Algeria would not use force against its neighbours, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune stated in an interview with local media. “A military intervention could ignite the entire Sahel region.”
According to Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou, the prime minister of Bazoum, a last-minute intervention was thought to be feasible as the deadline drew near.
When the coup took place, Mahamadou, who was in Rome, stated, “We are still hopeful. “We expect President Bazoum to be released, reinstated, and all allegedly disbanded institutions to be fully restored.”
France announced on Saturday that it will help efforts to put an end to the coup, but it did not say whether this support would include providing military support for an ECOWAS operation.
General Abdourahamane Tchiani, the 59-year-old leader of the coup who received some of his military training in France, asserted that the junta would not yield.
ECOWAS’ choices, which range from a ground invasion to supporting a domestic countercoup, all run the risk of escalating unrest.
Mahamadou claimed to be in touch with Bazoum, but he expressed concern over how the deposed leader was being handled.
He claimed that “he is doing well as a political prisoner, sequestered, without water, without electricity, can do,” and that the only way to change that might be for ECOWAS intervention.
“The security of the president is a matter that is in the hands of ECOWAS,” he declared.
Regarding the takeover, ECOWAS has adopted a strict stance. Niger is significant to the U.S., China, Europe, and Russia because of its wealth in uranium and oil, as well as its crucial role in the fight against extremists.
According to the intervention plan, leaders of state would decide when and where to strike, according to Abdel-Fatau Musah, the ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs, peace, and security.
He did not outline the details of the strategy or provide a timetable for the intervention.
“All the elements that will go into any eventual intervention have been worked out here, including the resources needed, the how, and the when we are going to deploy the force,” he said on Friday at the conclusion of a three-day summit in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.
ECOWAS may encounter opposition. In the event of a military intervention, Niger’s neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, where military juntas have also recently taken control, have pledged their help.
Mahamadou dismissed the threat posed by Niger’s neighbours, whose under-resourced forces are battling to quell bloody Islamist uprisings of their own.
“They must traverse the terrorist organisations they have been unable to defeat in order to get to Niger. Therefore, it’s a hollow threat to us,” he said.
Reuters
