West African nations have finalised a plan to intervene militarily in Niger to reverse last month’s coup and a “D-day” for the invasion has already been agreed on, a top official from the Ecowas bloc said at the end of a two-day meeting of regional defence chiefs. Abdel-Fatau Musah, commissioner for political affairs, peace and security for the Economic Community of West African States, announced at a press conference in the Ghanaian capital Accra that military leaders in the 15-member group were ready to act whenever an order was given. He did not reveal specifics.
“We’re ready, we have the resources, the equipment and the political will,” Musah said. The Ecowas commissioner said the alliance was still open to dialogue with the junta leaders who deposed Niger president Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 but warned they would not engage in “endless dialogue”. The objective of any military action would be the swift restoration of constitutional order in the Sahelian country, Musah said. The junta, led by General Omar Tchiani, leader of Bazoum’s presidential guard, has already defied Ecowas’s August 6 deadline to restore constitutional order. Musah described the junta as being intransigent through its actions.
The Accra summit follows the declaration of a “standby” order by regional leaders last week after an emergency meeting in Nigeria where the bloc reiterated its commitment to intervene militarily if the self-styled National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) junta did not reinstate Bazoum. Musah added that all Ecowas member states were ready to participate, except those countries under military rule that had been suspended — Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali — and the small island nation of Cape Verde. It remains to be seen how much support a military intervention would receive. France and the US, who both have troops in Niger, have supported Ecowas efforts to restore constitutional order without saying if they would welcome military action. Nigeria, the bloc’s largest member, has seen domestic opposition to any such move from all sides of the political spectrum, from civil society and in the media. But Nigerian president and Ecowas chair Bola Tinubu this week welcomed the support of the neighbouring Economic Community of the Central African States.
The African Union’s peace and security council met on Monday to deliberate on whether to support military action but its conclusion has not been made public. Ecowas remains at loggerheads with the junta in Niger and diplomatic efforts have largely faltered. Bazoum and his family have been held since the July 26 coup orchestrated by members of his presidential guard. The junta has threatened to kill the 63-year-old in the event of an invasion, according to officials with knowledge of the situation. Bazoum was threatened with allegations of “high treason” and undermining state security earlier this week by the junta, an offence that would carry the death penalty if he were convicted. Ecowas called the move a “provocation” that contradicted the regime’s purported willingness to engage in dialogue.
