2023-08-19 02:23:00
Military forces in Niger during the coup / Photo: AFP
The countries of the Economic Community of West African States (Cedeao) declared this Friday “ready” to intervene militarily in Niger and even set a date for an eventual “D-Day”” that marks the beginning of the action, although they left open the chance to send a mission to that country this Saturday to seek a peaceful return to constitutional order.
“We are ready to intervene from the moment the order is given. The day of the intervention has also been set,” revealed the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Abdel-Fatau Musah, after a meeting in Accra, the capital of Ghana.
The bloc’s military leaders discussed variants of action on Thursday and Friday, three weeks after the coup d’état that removed President Mohamed Bazoum from the government on July 26.
The meeting made it possible to agree on the “strategic objectives, the necessary equipment and the commitment of the Member States” for the possible intervention, Musah explained.
However, ECOWAS indicated that there was a “possibility” that a mission from the agreement would travel this Saturday to Niamey, the Nigerien capital, “to continue the search for a peaceful path.”
“We are willing to resolve the problem peacefully, but to dance the tango you need two,” insisted Musah.
He made it clear that “all member states present this Friday have committed to provide the necessary items, equipment and resources to carry out this mission”.
Were nine representationsbecause Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau were not there and Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso were suspended by the bloc’s governing bodies because They are also led by military coup leaders.
Previous ECOWAS missions were not welcomed by the country’s new strongman, General Abdourahamane Tiani.
The coup leaders, led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani, have already warned that they would respond immediately to any “aggression or attempted aggression
The new regime considers that any military intervention against its country would constitute an “illegal and senseless aggression” and promised an “immediate response” to any offensive.
General Abdourahamane Tchiani, coup leader / Photo: AFP
Niger was a key ally of Western countries in the fight against jihadist groups that operate in the Sahel, a long semi-arid strip that borders the Sahara desert to the south.
ECOWAS had already decided a week ago to activate a “reserve force to restore constitutional order” in the country, but then calls for a peaceful solution multiplied.
The election of President Bazoum in 2021 was a key moment in Niger, because it was the first peaceful transfer of power since its independence from France in 1960.
Since the coup, Bazoum is being held in his residence with his wife and son.
“President Bazoum’s conditions of detention are deteriorating. Any further deterioration in his state of health will have serious consequences,” Nigerian President Bola Tinubu warned in a conversation with European Council President Charles Michel.
An official from the European Union (EU) indicated that Michel reiterated “the full support of the EU for the ECOWAS decisions, as well as the firm condemnation of the unacceptable coup in Niger“.
“The EU will not recognize the authorities that emerged from the coup. President Bazoum, democratically elected, remains Niger’s legitimate head of state,” he insisted.
From Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, expressed his concern about the military’s decision to prosecute President Bazoum and his collaborators for high treason.
Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned this Friday that the closure of borders and airspace after the coup pushed the pressure on transit centers to the limit where migrants receive help and wait for a voluntary transfer to other countries, so a humanitarian corridor is necessary.
thousands of displaced
More than 60,000 migrants crossed Niger in the first half of the year to try to reach other areas, mostly headed for North Africa and even southern Europe.
The 5,697 kilometers of border shared with six neighboring states place the country at the center of most of the migratory routes in the region.
IOM has seven transit centers at strategic points along this route, spread across the Agadez and Niamey areas, currently housing some 5,000 people, while some 1,800 more are waiting outside.
Those who want to join voluntary return operations to their respective countries stop at these centers, but all flights were postponed or even canceled until further notice, indicated a statement released by the organization on its website.
The UN supported the IOM statement and called for “free and full access for humanitarian aid” for Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world, highly vulnerable to climate change and affected by the violence of various jihadist groups.
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