Niger: West African leaders have threatened military intervention against Niger’s junta following their seizure of power in a coup. The leaders gave the junta seven days to release President Mr. Mohamed Bazoum, who is currently held captive.
Earlier, the junta warned it would resist any “plan of aggression against Niger” by either regional or Western powers.
Leaders from ECOWAS, the bloc of West African nations, held crisis talks in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, to discuss the latest coup. According to a statement read out after the summit, ECOWAS had “zero tolerance” for coups.
The bloc would “take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order if its demands were not met within a week.”
“Such measures may include the use of force, and military chiefs are to meet immediately to plan for an intervention,” the statement added.
The Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel were at the meeting and noted that ECOWAS had taken decisive action because events in Niger were concerning. This is the first time ECOWAS has threatened military action to reverse the coups that have taken place in the region in recent years.
“Chad’s President Mr. Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno has gone to Niamey to tell the junta to step down,” Chad’s government stated.
Mr. Déby is the first foreign leader to visit Niger since the coup and has met junta deputy leader Gen. Salifou Mody.
The West African leaders also announced the immediate enforcement of a no-fly zone over Niger for all commercial flights, the closure of all land borders with the country, and the imposition of financial sanctions against the junta.
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