A multitude of supporters of the Niger coup congregated on Friday, taking to the streets in protest against the West African nations’ intentions to deploy a military force to the country. This demonstration unfolded alongside the cancellation of a significant regional meeting that was meant to discuss potential intervention plans.
ECOWAS had sanctioned the formation of a “standby force” with the aim of reinstating the ousted elected President Mohamed Bazoum. The European Union’s top diplomat also expressed concerns about Bazoum’s detention conditions following his removal from power by his own guard on July 26.
Originally, chiefs of staff from West African bloc member states were expected to convene in Ghana’s capital, Accra, on Saturday for a meeting. However, later reports indicated that the meeting had been indefinitely suspended due to “technical reasons.”
Sources revealed that the purpose of the meeting was initially to brief the organization’s leaders about the most viable strategies for activating and deploying the standby force. Despite this, ECOWAS has yet to furnish specifics about the force itself or a potential action timeline, with leaders maintaining their emphasis on pursuing a peaceful resolution.
The eleventh-hour cancellation of the meeting coincided with thousands of coup supporters rallying near a French military base in Niger on Friday. Demonstrators near the base, located on the outskirts of the capital Niamey, chanted slogans such as “Down with France, down with ECOWAS.”
Niger’s current leaders have pointed fingers at France, their former colonial power and a close ally of Bazoum, for influencing the stringent ECOWAS stance against the coup.
During the protest, many participants waved both Russian and Niger flags, vociferously expressing their endorsement of the country’s new authoritative figure, General Abdourahamane Tiani.
“We are going to make the French leave! ECOWAS isn’t independent, it’s being manipulated by France,” said one demonstrator, Aziz Rabeh Ali, a member of a students’ union.
France has around 1,500 troops in Niger as part of a force battling an eight-year jihadist insurgency.
It is facing growing hostility across the Sahel, withdrawing its anti-jihadist forces from neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso last year after falling out with military governments that ousted elected leaders.
Niger’s new leaders scrapped defence agreements with France last week, while a hostile protest outside the French embassy in Niamey on July 30 prompted Paris to evacuate its citizens.
– Fears for Bazoum –
The European Union and the African Union joined others in sounding the alarm for Bazoum on Friday.
“Bazoum and his family, according to the latest information, have been deprived of food, electricity and medical care for several days,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
UN rights chief Volker Turk said Bazoum’s reported detention conditions “could amount to inhuman and degrading treatment, in violation of international human rights law”.
The AU said “such treatment of a democratically elected president” was “unacceptable”.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned that the “coup plotters must face harsh consequences should anything happen” to Bazoum or his family.
Top US diplomat Antony Blinken said he was “dismayed” by the military’s refusal to release Bazoum’s family as a “demonstration of goodwill”.
A source close to Bazoum said: “He’s OK, but the conditions are very difficult”. The coup leaders had threatened to assault him in the event of military intervention, the source added.
Human Rights Watch said it had spoken to Bazoum earlier this week. The 63-year-old described the treatment of himself, his wife, and their 20-year-old son as “inhuman and cruel”, HRW said.
“I’m not allowed to receive my family members (or), my friends who have been bringing food and other supplies to us,” the group quoted him as saying.
“My son is sick, has a serious heart condition, and needs to see a doctor,” he was quoted as saying. “They’ve refused to let him get medical treatment.”
ECOWAS previously issued a seven-day ultimatum to the coup leaders to return Bazoum to power. However, the deadline expired on Sunday without any action being taken. The coup leaders have since named a new government, which met for the first time on Friday amidst pressure to stem a cascade of coups among its members.
CREDIT: PUNCH
