ABUJA - Security concerns built up yesterday ahead of planned protests in coup-hit Niger, with France demanding safety guarantees for foreign embassies as some Western nations reduced their diplomatic presence.
Britain and the United States announced the pulling back of embassy personnel in Niger as a precaution a week after the internationally-condemned toppling of elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
The clock is ticking down on the demand made Sunday from West African regional bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for the coup leaders to restore Bazoum to power within a week, or face the possible “last resort” of military intervention.
Paris urged the junta, led by General Abdourahamane Tiani, to “fully guarantee” the safety of embassies in Niamey ahead of planned protests to mark the nation’s 1960 independence from colonial power France.
European citizens have been evacuating from Niger, which has had a key role in French and Western strategies to combat a jihadist insurgency which has rampaged across the Sahel since 2012. ECOWAS leaders on Sunday imposed trade and financial sanctions, with Nigeria cutting off the electricity supplies which account for some 70% of Niger’s grid. West African military chiefs were meeting in Nigeria’s capital Abuja to frame a response, while an ECOWAS team headed by former Nigerian leader Abdulsalami Abubakar was in Niger for talks. West Africa’s pre-eminent military and economic power Nigeria, the current chair of ECOWAS, has vowed a firm line against coups which have proliferated across the region since 2020. Junta-ruled Mali and Burkina Faso have warned any military intervention in their neighbour would be tantamount to a “declaration of war” against them.
Russia on Wednesday called for “urgent national dialogue” in Niger, and warned that threats of intervention “will not help ease tensions or calm the domestic situation”.
Bazoum, 63, was feted in 2021 after winning elections which ushered in Niger’s first-ever peaceful transition of power. He took the helm of a country burdened by four previous coups since independence from France in 1960.
But after surviving two attempted putsches, Bazoum was overthrown on 26 July when members of his own guard detained him at the presidency.
Their commander, Tiani, has declared himself leader, but his claim has been condemned internationally.
France organised evacuation flights from Niamey following hostile demonstrations at the weekend.
But in a televised address on Wednesday, Tiani said French nationals had nothing to fear, insisting they had never been subject “to the least threat”.
He rejected the international sanctions imposed in response to the coup, saying he “refused to give in to any threat”. Western nations have taken action as the standoff between the coup plotters has grown more tense.
The US State Department “ordered the departure of non-emergency US government employees and eligible family members from embassy Niamey”, it said Wednesday.
Germany has urged its citizens to leave, but the United States -- which has 1,100 troops stationed in Niger -- has opted to not evacuate all Americans for now. Under Bazoum and his predecessor Mahamadou Issoufou, Niger has had a key role in French and Western strategies to combat a jihadist insurgency that has rampaged across the Sahel since 2012.
After joining a regional revolt in northern Mali, armed Islamists advanced into Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015, and now carry out sporadic attacks on fragile states on the Gulf of Guinea. Countless civilians, troops and police have been killed across the region, while around 2.2 million people in Burkina Faso alone have fled their homes. The impact has contributed to army takeovers in all three Sahel countries, and inflicted devastating damage to economies at the very bottom of the world’s wealth table.
France’s anti-jihadist Burkina Faso mission had at its peak about 5,400 troops, supported by fighter jets, helicopters and drones.
But the mission was refocused on Niger last year, when France pulled out of Mali and Burkina Faso after falling out with their juntas.
Today, the reconfigured force has around 1 500 men, many of them deployed at an air base near Niamey.
- Nampa /AFP