Niger is expected to come under military fire from neighbouring ECOWAS bloc states opposed to the Junta that is currently in control of Niger.
West Africa’s defense chiefs agreed to a plan for a potential military intervention in Niger as a deadline looms for the junta that seized power in the key Western ally to restore democracy by Sunday.
The 15-member Economic Community of West African States, the regional bloc known as ECOWAS, threatened the use of force if coup leaders don’t restore Bazoum to power by Sunday.
However, the bloc has made similar threats before and carried through on them. Nigeria is the current ECOWAS chair and has vowed a firm response against coups.
France the former colonial power said it would firmly back whatever course of action he ECOWAS bloc will take after the expiration of the Sunday deadline.
According to ECOWAS all the elemens that will go in the eventual intervention have been worked out.
Geopolitical analyst Ovigwe Eguegu notes that “The likelihood of a major intervention is very, very high, because there are so many factors that speak for it.”
“Any aggression or attempted aggression against the State of Niger will see an immediate and unannounced response from the Niger Defense and Security Forces on one of (the bloc’s) members,” Amadou Abdramane, the spokesperson for the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country, made the remarks on state television.
On July 26, President Mohamed Bazoum (democratically elected in 2021) was detained by members of the Presidential Guard, and that evening, the military announced that it had seized power.
Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani, the commander of Niger’s presidential guard, declared himself the head of a transitional government two days after deposing Bazoum.