In light of a deadline approaching for the release and reinstatement of deposed President Mohamed Bozoum and the failure of efforts by a West African team to meet with the coup leaders, Niger’s military junta has cancelled agreements for military cooperation with France.
The decision to terminate the military accords with France, Niger’s former colonial power, was read aloud by junta representative Amadou Abdramane on national television late Thursday. Additionally, the junta expelled the ambassadors of the previous administration to France, the United States, Togo, and Nigeria, which is in charge of ECOWAS’s peace attempts, and to the neighbouring country.
The regional group of West African countries known as ECOWAS has given the coup’s leaders until Sunday to restore Bozoum while announcing that, in the worst-case scenario, it may turn to military intervention.
The Junta’s leaders have retaliated by stating that force will be answered with force.
In Niamey, Niger, on July 30, 2023, people from Niger take part in a march organised by Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani’s followers.
In a statement that was also broadcast on national television late on Thursday, the junta declared: “Any aggression or attempted aggression against the State of Niger will see an immediate and unannounced response from the Niger Defence and Security Forces on one of (the bloc’s) members.”
With regard to “suspended friendly countries,” which included Burkina Faso and Mali—two nations that have recently experienced military coups—a warning was issued with an exemption.
The juntas in those nations have warned that any military action in Niger would be considered a “declaration of war” against them.
With Niger, ECOWAS is attempting to achieve what it has failed to do in the past: put an end to coups and restore democracies. A team that had come in Niamey, the capital of Niger, on Thursday left without speaking to General Abdourahamane Tchiani or Bazoum, the coup leader.
After overthrowing Bazoum last week in a military takeover, Tchiani, the former commander of the presidential guard in Niger, proclaimed himself the country’s new leader.
The continuous instability in the nation brought on by an Islamist insurgency, according to Tchiani, made the power grab imperative.
However, according to data released on Thursday by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, the number of violent occurrences in Niger actually declined by about 40% in the first half of 2023 compared to the prior half.
A crisis-monitoring organisation with a US base is the project. Additionally, according to its data, Niger’s security situation was getting better as a result of government of Bazoum policy and support from French and American forces.
A call for Bazoum’s immediate release was made by US President Joe Biden on Thursday.
He stated in a statement that Niger is “facing a grave challenge to its democracy.”
The White House, which has refrained from using the word “coup,” said on Thursday that it is “going to continue to review all our options around our cooperation with the Nigerien government.”
On August 3, 2023, in Niamey, Niger, members of the junta that rules the country meet to protest against foreign meddling and to strive for the liberation of their nation.
John Kirby, the spokesperson for the National Security Council, declined to forecast how the United States would respond if the putschists missed the deadline.
“You saw ECOWAS come out yesterday and say that, in their view, any use of force would be a last resort,” Kirby said to reporters. “I believe it would be best to let them discuss that possibility and its specifics. We’re putting diplomacy first right now. There is still time and room for that, in our opinion.
On July 26, Bazoum was placed under house arrest. On Monday, Tchiani was appointed as the new military chief.
Bazoum, who has been held captive by the coup plotters since his overthrow along with his family, warned on Thursday that the putsch would “have devastating consequences for our country, our region, and the entire world” if it was successful.
He urged “the U.S. government and the entire international community to help us restore our constitutional order” in a Washington Post piece.
The U.S., which claims to support Nigerians, ECOWAS, and the African Union in their efforts to undo the coup, is among the Western nations that have denounced it. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Bazoum on the phone on Wednesday, according to the State Department, to discuss the circumstance.
The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and Reuters are some of the sources of some material.
