Ecowas defence chiefs say they are able to deploy a military force to intervene in Niger

DEFENCE chiefs from Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) countries have indicated that they are ready to deploy a standby military force that could intervene in the Republic of Niger to restore democracy there.

Early this month, soldiers in Niger Republic overthrew the government of democratically-elected President Mohamed Bazoum and placed him under house arrest. Like the US, France and the rest of the world, Ecowas has told the junta to reinstate the ousted leader but such calls have been repeatedly rebuffed.

In defiance of the rest of the world, President Bazoum was detained by the members of his presidential guard and General Abdourahamane Tchiani has been named as the new head of state. Ecowas has threatened to use military force to remove the regime if need be and earlier today, their chief of defence staffs met in Accra the Ghanaian capital to review the situation.

This latest meeting held amid an increase in terrorist violence in Niger Republic as 20 soldiers were wounded, six seriously, in the heaviest losses since the July 26 coup, when the presidential guard ousted Bazoum and detained him and his family. Jihadist insurgencies have gripped Africa’s Sahel region for more than a decade, breaking out in northern Mali in 2012 before spreading to neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015.

Unrest across the region has killed thousands of troops, police officers and civilians and forced millions to flee their homes. Anger at the bloodshed has fuelled military coups in Mali and Burkina Faso since 2020, with Niger the latest to fall.

Despite an Ecowas ultimatum, the Niger junta has remained defiant and even refused to meet with a delegation of Ecowas emissaries sent to negotiate a peaceful handover. In a show of utter defiance, the regime has named Mr Zeine as its new prime minister and will now expect him to head a government.

Mr Zeine was formerly the minister of economy and finance for several years in the cabinet of then-president Mamadou Tandja, who was ousted in 2010,and most recently worked as an economist for the African Development Bank in Chad. General Tchiani has already asked neighbouring Mali, also governed by the military for support in the event of Ecowas military intervention.