West African military chiefs indicated on Friday that the D-Day for an armed intervention in the Niger Republic had been determined but that a diplomatic mission over the weekend was feasible to keep discussions open.
After generals deposed and imprisoned Bazoum on July 26, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreed to activate a “standby force” as a last resort to restore democracy in Niger.
ECOWAS defence chiefs gathered this week in Accra, Ghana, to finalise plans for a future military intervention to reinstall Bazoum if continuing talks with coup leaders fail.
The military chiefs said “We are ready to go any time the order is given,” said Abdel-Fatau Musah, an ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs and security.
“D-Day is also decided.”
However, the leaders also say they still prefer dialogue and that ECOWAS could send a diplomatic mission to Niger on Saturday.
“Tomorrow (today) there is the possibility of an ECOWAS mission going into Niger to continue to pursue the peaceful path to restoration of constitutional order,” he said.
“We are ready to resolve the issue peacefully, but it takes two to tango.”
ECOWAS chiefs say they must act after Niger became the fourth West African country to face a coup since 2020, following Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea.
The Sahel region is besieged by jihadist insurgencies affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. Frustration with the bloodshed has contributed to the military takeovers.
Since 1990, ECOWAS forces have intervened in additional emergencies, including civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The Ivory Coast, Benin, and Nigeria are all likely to deploy troops to a mission in Niger.
Bazoum, whose 2021 election was a watershed moment in Niger’s tumultuous history, has been held at the president’s official residence with his family since the coup, with mounting international alarm over his imprisonment conditions.
ECOWAS head and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu threatened Niamey on Friday with “grave consequences” if the new regime allowed Bazoum’s health to worsen under house arrest, an EU official said.
While on a call to EU chief Charles Michel, Tinubu noted: “President Bazoum’s detention conditions are deteriorating.”
“Any further deterioration in his well-being status will have grave consequences.”
