2023-08-02 16:11:28
ECOWAS meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, following the coup in Niger, July 30, 2023. KOLA SULAIMON / AFP
In a tense context following the coup d’etat in Niger, a delegation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is currently in Niamey to ” negotiate “ with the putschists, one of the ECOWAS officials said on Wednesday August 2.
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“The President of the ECOWAS Commission would have liked to be here, but as we speak he is in Niger as part of a high-level delegation led by the former Head of State of Nigeria , General Abdulsalami Abubakar, to negotiate”said ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs and Security, Abdel-Fatau Musah. The chiefs of staff of the member countries of the West African intergovernmental organization, who have not ruled out the use of force against the putschists, are meeting until Friday in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, while an emissary from the Nigerian junta, General Salifou Mody, has arrived in Mali. A military intervention in Niger would be “the last option” envisaged by ECOWAS to restore constitutional order, but we must “prepare for this eventuality”added Abdel-Fatau Musah.
A week to restore the former president
ECOWAS, chaired by the Nigerian Head of State Bola Tinubu, does not rule out the use of force and has given a week – until Sunday – to the putschists to restore former President Mohamed Bazoum, overthrown on July 26 by members of his presidential guard. “We defend democracy and this must continue. We are ready and, as soon as we receive the order to intervene, we will do so”said Monday on RFI Nigeria’s army chief, Christopher Musa.
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Mali and Burkina Faso, neighbors of military-ruled Niger after coups in 2020 and 2022, support the junta and have said any armed intervention would be considered “like a declaration of war” and would lead to their withdrawal from ECOWAS.
The junta also accused France, a former colonial power, of wanting “to intervene militarily”which Paris strongly denied.
Italy and France have repatriated some of their nationals
For the time being, Paris and Rome are evacuating their nationals and foreigners who so wish. By midday, more than 500 people had been evacuated, including 312 French, on board two of the four planes planned by France. The repatriation must be completed during the day on the French side.
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“The evacuation operations from Niger led by France are coming to an end”, said the French authorities in a message to the approximately 1,200 French people registered in Niger. A third plane was to take off and a fourth was being boarded, according to the French army. This is the first massive evacuation organized by France in the Sahel where coups have multiplied since 2020. Paris justified the evacuation by the “violence that took place” against its embassy on Sunday during a demonstration hostile to France, and by “closing the airspace”. The evacuation of some 1,500 French soldiers stationed in Niger is, however, not “not on the agenda”according to the general staff of the French armies.
Italy has evacuated around 100 foreign nationals to Rome. According to the ANSA agency, 36 Italians and 21 Americans are among the nationals evacuated. Just under 500 Italian nationals reside in Niger, most of whom are military personnel. And Spain told AFP that it is working to evacuate its nationals, who are just over 70.
On the other hand, the United States has not launched an operation of this type and does not speak of ” Rebellion “estimating that there is still a “little window” for diplomacy and the reinstatement of President Bazoum in his functions. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited Niamey in March, assured Mr. Bazoum by telephone of the “unwavering support from the United States” who reject “attempts to overthrow the constitutional order”.
French soldiers and European citizens at Niamey airport, August 2, 2023. STANISLAS POYET / AFP
The M62 movement, at the initiative of a pro-putschist demonstration, denounced on Tuesday the evacuation organized by France, wishing the suspension of some of its media and calling for a rally “peaceful every day” near the airport, “until the final departure of the foreign forces” present in the country.
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For now “In Niamey, there are no particular tensions in the city, no particular stress, the population goes about its business”described on his arrival in Paris a passenger who worked for the EU in Niger. “At one point, there was a feeling of insecurity, we knew that everything could change”testified, relieved, Raïssa Kelembho, returned from Niger with her two boys and whose husband remained in Niger to work.
Read also: Solving the crisis in Niger, a question of “survival” for Nigeria
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