According to the ECOWAS regional bloc, the deployment of force to restore democracy in Niamey will be a last resort.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sent a mission to Niger on Wednesday to meet with military officers who conducted the coup that toppled President Mohamed Bazoum last week.
The mission is being led by Nigeria’s former military ruler, Abdulsalami Abubakar, as the regional Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CCDS) meets in Abuja to discuss the situation in Niamey.
ECOWAS has imposed economic and financial sanctions on Niger and threatens to use force if the putsch leaders do not return the democratically elected Bazoum within seven days of this past Sunday.
However, addressing at the start of the three-day CCDS conference on Wednesday, Abdel-Fatau Musah, ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs, peace, and security, stated that using force to overthrow the coup would be considered only as a last measure.
“The military option is the very last option on the table, the last resort, but we must prepare for the possibility.” “There is a need to demonstrate that we can not only bark but also bite,” Musah told reporters in Abuja.
Meanwhile, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has warned against a Western military intervention in Niger, calling such a move a “new colonisation.”
Russia has advocated diplomacy, stressing that the threat of military intervention will exacerbate rather than settle the problem.
On Monday, the juntas of Mali and Burkina Faso stated that any foreign military intervention in neighbouring Niger would be considered a declaration of war against their respective countries.
The coup on June 26 drew global condemnation for Niamey, a crucial ally of Western nations in the fight against jihadist insurgencies in the Sahel region.
France, Niger’s erstwhile coloniser, said on Saturday that it had suspended all development aid to the West African country. The EU and Germany have all taken similar actions against the junta commanded by General Abdourahamane Tiani, banning budgetary support as well as any security cooperation efforts.
The EU declared on Tuesday that it will remove its residents from Niamey, while France and Italy confirmed earlier on Wednesday that they had flown some nationals to Paris and Rome.
