Rising from their meeting on Thursday at the Nigeria capital, Abuja, the West African leaders under the umbrella of the Economic Community Of West African States, ECOWAS, said they would consider the option of a military intervention in Niger, after all other means have failed to restore the country’s democracy. Consequently, the regional bloc has ordered a standby force in readiness as a last resort.
The decision was contained in a communique at the end of a meeting of heads of states of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).
ECOWAS agreed to exhaust all negotiation options to resolving the crisis in Niger which led to the July 26 coup that ousted the democratically elected government of Mohammed Bazoum.
The regional bloc, however, said it would instruct its defense chiefs to “activate the Ecowas standby force with all its elements immediately” and order the force’s deployment.
Meanwhile in Niger, the military junta led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani have announced the formation of a cabinet of 21 ministers to be headed by Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine, a 58-year-old former finance minister who was made prime minister on Monday.
According to reports by the Associated Press, AP, Niger’s junta told a top U.S. diplomat that they would kill deposed President Mohamed Bazoum if neighboring countries attempted any military intervention to restore his rule.
AP said the two persons who spoke with them did so, shortly before the West African bloc ECOWAS said it had ordered a deployment of a “standby force” to restore democracy in Niger, should all other diplomatic option fail to yield desired result.
Nigerians appear not to be in support of the military option in Niger. Opinion in the public domain tilt to a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, adding that President Tinubu has too much on his plate to deal with rather than engaging the country into an unprovoked war with its neighbor. They have warned Boa Tinubu to instead focus on solving the hydra headed problem of Boko Harem, Banditry, Kidnappers and all the other problems that have bedeviled the country for the past 15 years or so.
