Niger coup: Deadline arrives for leaders to face down and reinstate president

A deadline for Niger’s coup leaders to face down and reinstate the nation’s elected president has arrived.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) mentioned on Friday its defence chiefs had drawn up a plan for army motion if the junta, which has mentioned it won’t bow to exterior strain, didn’t comply by Sunday.

Hours earlier than the deadline, supporters of the coup joined safety forces within the streets of Niger’s capital Niamey to face guard and verify automobiles for weapons following a name from leaders to be careful for overseas intervention and spies.

“I’m here to support the military,” mentioned Ibrahim Nudirio, one of many residents on patrol.

“We are against [the regional bloc]. We will fight to the end. We do not agree with what France is doing against us. We are done with colonisation.”

However, because the deadline arrived on Sunday, the town remained calm with marriage ceremony celebrations persevering with throughout the town and sporadic indicators of help for the junta, together with a picket line of round 100 individuals close to an airbase.

“I am not worried because I know that any military intervention by ECOWAS in Niger would be a loss for this organisation. It is not in the interest of its leaders,” mentioned 59-year-old housewife Hadjo Hadjia.

ECOWAS sanctions have led to energy cuts and hovering meals costs however it was not instantly clear what the bloc will do subsequent because it faces distinguished calls to pursue extra peaceable means.

Neighbouring Nigeria’s Senate on Saturday urged its nation’s president, the present ECOWAS chair, to discover different choices, though the bloc can nonetheless transfer forward with army intervention as remaining selections are taken by consensus of member states.

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Non-members Algeria and Chad, nations with sturdy militaries within the area, have each mentioned they oppose the usage of power, whereas neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, that are run by juntas, have mentioned any army intervention could be a “declaration of war” towards them too.

The bloc has taken a tough stance for the reason that 26 July takeover and had given the junta, led by General Abdourahmane Tchiani, per week to launch and reinstate the elected President Mohamed Bazoum.

Mr Bazoum was elected two years in the past within the nation’s first peaceable, democratic switch of energy since its independence from France in 1960.

He has claimed he’s a “hostage” and mentioned the coup, if profitable, would have “devastating consequences for our country, our region and the entire world”.

Uranium and oil-rich Niger, with a pivotal function within the battle with Islamist rebels within the Sahel area, has strategic significance for the United States, China, Europe and Russia.

The junta has reached out to Russian mercenary group Wagner, which has forces in Mali and the Central African Republic, for assist, whereas severing safety ties with France.

Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin final week mentioned his forces have been accessible to revive order in Niger, whereas Russia on Friday repeated its name for a return to constitutional rule.

France mentioned on Saturday it will help efforts to overturn the coup, with out specifying whether or not its backing would entail army help for an ECOWAS intervention, whereas Mr Bazoum’s prime minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou mentioned the ousted regime nonetheless believed a last-minute settlement was potential.