NIGER: The junta in Niger has given the go-ahead for troops from neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso to defend the country and asked the French ambassador to leave.
Brig. Gen. Abdrahmane Tchiani, the head of the junta, signed two executive orders allowing security forces from Burkina Faso and Mali to intervene on Niger territory in case of aggression. This has raised tensions with other West African countries threatening to restore Niger’s democratically elected president.
Sidi did not provide more details on military assistance from the two states, whose military regimes have deemed any use of force by ECOWAS against the junta in Niger an act of war. French Ambassador Sylvain Itte was ordered to leave Niger within 48 hours after rejecting a meeting request from the ministry, as per Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
A letter from the Associated Press referred to “actions of the French government contrary to the interests of Niger.”
Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown last month, and an attack was made on the French Embassy in Niamey. The military leaders of the coup have turned to the private Russian firm Wagner for assistance in preventing extremist attacks. ECOWAS, along with the African Union, has declared against the use of private military contractors.
The junta’s agreement with Mali and Burkina Faso is part of a wider effort to defy sanctions and solidify a rule for up to three years. ECOWAS Commission head Omar Alieu Touray dismissed the junta’s proposed transition schedule.
The bloc of 15 nations, except Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Niger, has expressed their intention to send soldiers to restore democracy in Niger if intervention is decided.
The bloc will continue exploring diplomatic options while the coup is being considered. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu sent a delegation of Islamic leaders to meet with the junta, marking the latest diplomatic effort.
Touray said that West African heads of state will decide to use force if diplomatic efforts fail. He added that ECOWAS cannot simply abandon the situation. No announcements have been made on the ECOWAS “standby” force, and regional authorities suggest military involvement would resemble the 2017 force used in Gambia to remove President Yahya Jammeh after a failed election.
The junta in Niger has used people’s resentments towards France for political gain, criticizing Bazoum’s administration for not protecting the nation from Islamic extremists and seeking aid from Russian mercenary outfit Wagner.
The U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation has suspended projects aimed at enhancing agriculture, women’s literacy, and roads, citing the coup as “contrary to democratic governance principles.”
ECOWAS, along with Western and European nations, has imposed sanctions on Niger, including shutting off its electricity supply from Nigeria and closing its borders with its neighbours.
Although Touray acknowledged on Friday that the sanctions had caused “serious socio-economic crises” in Niger, he insisted that they had been implemented in the country’s best interests.
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