According to military and political sources in the area, the ECOWAS military leaders will meet in Ghana this week to consider the possibility of intervening in Niger.
The summit took place on Thursday and Friday after ECOWAS leaders last week approved the deployment of a “standby force to restore constitutional order” in Niger, whose president was overthrown on July 26. The meeting had been originally set for last weekend but was then postponed.
Their summit, which took place last Thursday in Abuja, Nigeria, also reaffirmed the bloc’s support for a diplomatic resolution.
The election of President Mohamed Bazoum in 2021 marked a turning point in Niger’s history because it marked the nation’s first peaceful transfer of power since gaining independence from France in 1960.
His removal sent shockwaves through West Africa, where Mali and Burkina Faso, two countries also struggling with Islamic militancy, also experienced military takeovers.
On July 30, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) gave the military government of Niger a week to reinstate Bazoum or risk using force, but the time limit passed without any action being taken.
Given internal strife within ECOWAS and domestic opposition, analysts claim that military action would be both politically and operationally perilous.
In Benin, people living at Malanville the country’s sole border crossing with Niger said Tuesday that a shipping container had been placed on the Nigerien side of the border to block the road, apparently to act as a barrier against invasion.
