West African leaders said they would deploy a standby force of troops to potentially intervene to restore democracy in Niger, where the president was deposed in a July 26 coup.
The announcement came on Thursday at an emergency meeting of the Economic Community of West African States in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, after Niger’s ruling military junta ignored the regional bloc’s deadline to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum.
“No option is taken off the table, including the use of force as a last resort. If we don’t do it, no one else will do it for us,” said Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who currently chairs ECOWAS. “I hope that through our collective efforts we can bring about a peaceful resolution as a roadmap to restoring stability and democracy in Niger. All is not lost yet.”
It wasn’t immediately clear how the ECOWAS Standby Force will be deployed. Any intervention would have to be led by Nigeria, the region’s most populous and influential country and its biggest military. But Tinubu has already faced pushback from politicians in Nigeria’s north, which shares a more than 1,000-mile border and cultural ties with Niger.
The bloc, which pledged to enforce asset freezes and travel bans on those hindering the return democracy, said it would continue to prioritize diplomacy in Niger. It’s the region’s sixth coup in the last three years and has also brought condemnation from Western countries including France and the US, which together have thousands of troops stationed in the country. Niger is a key international ally in the global fight against jihadists in the region.
Bazoum was overthrown last month by a group of soldiers led by General Abdourahamane Tiani. The junta failed to meet a deadline set by regional leaders to relinquish power by Aug. 6.
Junta members told US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, who visited Niger this week, that they would kill Bazoum if there was any regional military intervention to restore his rule, the Associated Press cited two unidentified Western officials as saying.
Bazoum is being deprived of food, water and electricity at an army camp where he’s been held captive for the past two weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement voicing concern over the “deplorable living conditions” being imposed on the president and his family. ECOWAS said it would hold the junta “fully and solely responsible” for Bazoum’s safety and security.
On Thursday, the junta announced the appointment of a 21-member cabinet, naming military officers to the key posts of defense, security and interior ministers. Ali Lamine Zeine, who was appointed as prime minister earlier this week, was also given the finance portfolio.
If it is ultimately successful, the coup will create a belt of military-run countries from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, most of which are friendlier with Russia than with the West.
