West African nations were to determine on Friday a potential intervention if Niger’s coup is not overturned by the weekend after mediation failed in a crisis rattling global powers.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has taken a hard stance on last week’s toppling of President Mohamed Bazoum: the seventh coup in West and Central Africa since 2020.
Given its uranium and oil riches and pivotal role in the war with Islamist rebels in the Sahel region, Niger has strategic significance for the United States, China, Europe and Russia.
The Dutch government became the latest Western nation on Friday to cut cooperation, even though Niger is one of the world’s poorest nations and relies on foreign aid for nearly half of its budget.
The new military junta, led by 59-year-old presidential guard commander Abdourahamane Tiani, on Thursday revoked military cooperation pacts with former colonial power France, as neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso did after their coups.
That could reshape the long-running fight against Islamist militants, not only in Niger but the region.
Paris, which has loudly condemned the putsch, has between 1,000-1,500 troops in Niger helping battle groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State. The United States, Germany and Italy also have troops stationed in Niger.
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Detained at the presidential residence in Niger’s capital Niamey, Bazoum, a 63-year-old philosophy graduate elected in 2021, said in his first remarks since the coup that he was a hostage and in need of U.S. and international help.
“If it (the coup) succeeds, it will have devastating consequences for our country, our region and the entire world,” he wrote in a Washington Post opinion piece, backing ECOWAS’ economic and travel sanctions.
Russia, whose private mercenary Wagner group has cheered the coup, said on Friday any interference from non-regional powers such as the United States was unlikely to help and repeated its call for a return to constitutional rule.
(Editor: Oloyede Oworu)
