Coup leaders in Niger Republic have begged Russia to come to their aid as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) led by President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria threatened military action if the junta did not cede power in seven days.
General Abdourahmane Tchiani, also known as Omar Tchiani, and the chief of Niger’s presidential guard led an uprising against President Mohamed Bazoum last week and ousted him from power.
The action of the military has been roundly condemned by the international community notably the United States, France and the African Union.
And then the opposition to the action deepened on Sunday when ECOWAS announced immediate sanctions on Niger, including the closure of land and air borders between ECOWAS countries and Niger.
It also established a no-fly zone on all commercial flights to and from Niger and suspended all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS Member States and Niger.
The regional body threatened a joint military action if Niger soldiers didn’t cede power in seven days.
But the Niger Republic’s military leaders in a statement read on Niger national television warned ECOWAS not to send troops to their country, saying it is an attempt to start a war against Niger.
“The objective of the ECOWAS meeting is to approve a plan of aggression against Niger through an imminent military intervention in Niamey in collaboration with other African countries that are non-members of ECOWAS, and certain Western countries,” Aljazeera quoted the military spokesman, Colonel Amadou Abduramane, to have said.
Abduramane called on Russia to help Niger with soldiers and equipment.
He said they were ready to defend their country from the attacks that he suspected ECOWAS would launch on the country.
He also called on the citizens to come out and hold a demonstration to support them.
Russia has troops in Mali, a neighbour of Niger, which has caused France and the United Nations to withdraw their peacekeeping troops from the country.
Russia’s Wagner mercenary boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who remains active despite leading a failed mutiny against the Russian army’s top brass last month, has hailed the coup as good news and offered his fighters’ services to bring order.
Niger has been a security partner of France, and the United States, which have used it as a base to fight an Islamist insurgency in West and Central Africa’s wider Sahel region.
