NIAMEY, Niger — West African nations have given Niger’s coup leaders one week to reinstate the nation’s democratically elected president and have threatened to make use of pressure if the calls for aren’t met.
The announcement got here on the finish of an emergency assembly of West African international locations Sunday in Nigeria, the place the regional bloc, referred to as ECOWAS, convened to reply to final week’s navy takeover. President Mohamed Bazoum stays below home arrest and has but to resign.
“Within the occasion the authority’s calls for aren’t met inside one week, (the bloc will) take all measures vital to revive constitutional order within the Republic of Niger. Such measures might embrace the usage of pressure,” mentioned the assertion.
The bloc additionally imposted strict sanctions, together with suspending all industrial and monetary transactions between ECOWAS member states and Niger and freezing of belongings in regional central banks.
Financial sanctions might have a deep affect on Nigeriens, who stay within the third-poorest nation on the earth, in keeping with the most recent U.N. information. The nation depends on imports from Nigeria for as much as 90% of its energy, in keeping with the Worldwide Renewable Power Company.
The sanctions may very well be disastrous and Niger must discover a resolution to keep away from them, the nation’s Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou advised French media outlet Radio France Internationale on Sunday.
“When individuals say there’s an embargo, land borders are closed, air borders are closed, it’s extraordinarily tough for individuals … Niger is a rustic that depends closely on the worldwide group,” he mentioned.
The 15-nation ECOWAS bloc has unsuccessfully tried to revive democracies in nations the place the navy took energy in recent times. 4 nations are run by navy governments in West and Central Africa, the place there have been 9 profitable or tried coups since 2020.
Within the Nineteen Nineties, ECOWAS intervened in Liberia throughout its civil battle. In 2017, it intervened in Gambia to stop the brand new president’s predecessor, Yahya Jammeh, from disrupting the handover of energy. Round 7,000 troops from Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal entered, in keeping with the International Observatory, which supplies evaluation on peace and safety points.
If the regional bloc makes use of pressure, it might set off violence not solely between Niger and ECOWAS forces but in addition civilians supporting the coup and people towards it, Niger analysts say.
“Whereas this stays to be a menace and unlikely motion, the results on civilians of such an method if putschists selected confrontation can be catastrophic,” mentioned Rida Lyammouri, senior fellow on the Coverage Heart for the New South, a Morocco-based assume tank.
Lyammouri additionally mentioned he doesn’t see a “navy intervention occurring due to the violence that would set off.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken counseled ECOWAS’ management Sunday to “defend constitutional order in Niger” after the sanctions announcement, and joined the bloc in calling for the instant launch of Bazoum and his household.
The navy junta, which seized energy on Wednesday when members of the presidential guard surrounded Bazoum’s home and detained him, is already cracking down on the federal government and civil liberties.
On Sunday night it arrested 4 authorities officers, together with Mahamane Sani Mahamadou, the minister of petroleum and son of former President Mahamadou Issoufou; Kassoum Moctar, minister of schooling; Ousseini Hadizatou Yacouba, the minister of mines, and Foumakoye Gado, the president of the ruling social gathering. That is in keeping with somebody near the president, who was not approved to discuss the scenario, and a Nigerien analyst who didn’t need to be named for worry of reprisal.
The identical evening, junta spokesman Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane mentioned on state tv that every one authorities automobiles have to be returned by noon Monday and banned the usage of social media to diffuse messages towards state safety. He additionally claimed that Bazoum’s authorities had approved the French to hold out strikes to free Bazoum. The Related Press cannot confirm his allegations.
In anticipation of the ECOWAS determination Sunday, 1000’s of pro-junta supporters took to the streets within the capital, Niamey, denouncing its former colonial ruler, France, waving Russian flags and telling the worldwide group to remain away.
Demonstrators in Niger are overtly resentful of France, and Russia is seen by some as a robust various. The character of Moscow’s involvement within the rallies, if any, isn’t clear, however some protesters have carried Russian flags, together with indicators studying “Down with France” and supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The scenario of this nation is just not good … It’s time for change, and alter has arrived,” mentioned Moussa Seydou, a protester. “What we wish from the putschists — all they must do is enhance social circumstances in order that Nigeriens can stay higher on this nation and produce peace,” he mentioned.