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AS IT HAPPENED
Niger coup leaders rally supporters as ECOWAS deadline passes
Pressure on Niger’s coup leaders mounted Sunday with the approach of the one-week deadline set by the West African regional bloc ECOWAS for the military to relinquish control or face possible armed intervention. Calm appeared to reign in the capital Niamey despite the looming deadline. Read our blog to see how the day’s events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
Issued on: 06/08/2023 – 07:34
Modified: 06/08/2023 – 23:08
6 min
Mohamed Toumba, one of the soldiers who ousted Nigerian President Mohamed Bazoum, addresses supporters of Niger’s ruling junta in Niamey, Niger, Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023.
Mohamed Toumba, one of the soldiers who ousted Nigerian President Mohamed Bazoum, addresses supporters of Niger’s ruling junta in Niamey, Niger, Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023. © Sam Mednick, AP
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FRANCE 24
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11:32pm: Niger junta closes airspace until further notice
Niger’s military rulers announced Sunday that they had closed the country’s airspace, warning that any attempt to violate it would meet with an “energetic and immediate response”.
“Faced with the threat of intervention, which is becoming clearer through the preparation of neighbouring countries, Niger’s airspace is closed from this day on Sunday… for all aircraft until further notice,” they said in a statement.
Any attempt to violate the country’s airspace would meet with an “energetic and immediate response”, the statement added.
ECOWAS issued its ultimatum a week ago, demanding that power be handed back to the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum by Sunday night at midnight (2300 GMT).
10:38pm: Niger coup leaders rally supporters as ECOWAS deadline approaches
Thousands of coup supporters in Niger gather for a rally to cheer on the generals claiming power, as the deadline set by the west African bloc for the military to relinquish control or face possible armed intervention approaches.
Please click on the video player below to watch the report.
01:13
5:11pm: Thousands of Niger coup supporters gather in Niamey stadium
An AFP journalist reported late Sunday that thousands of coup supporters were gathering at a stadium in Niger’s capital Niamey.
A delegation of members of the ruling National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland arrived at the 30,000-seat stadium to cheers from supporters.
3:28pm: Nigera’s Senate opposed to ECOWAS military intervention plan
Nigeria’s Senate on Saturday pushed back against the plan by regional bloc ECOWAS to intervene militarily to reverse the coup in Niger. Senators are urging President Bola Tinubu, ECOWAS’s current chair, to explore options other than the use of force, said FRANCE 24’s Yinka Oyetade.
ECOWAS members such as Mali and Burkina Faso, which are both run by juntas, are also opposed to the use of force against Niger’s coup leaders.
Other non-ECOWAS members including Chad and Algera have equally spoken against military intervention.
Please click on the video player below to watch the interview.
02:46
2:35pm: Niger coup supporters brace for ECOWAS deadline
Hours before Sunday’s deadline, hundreds of youth joined security forces in the darkened streets in Niger’s capital, Niamey to stand guard at a dozen roundabouts until morning, checking cars for weapons and heeding the junta’s call to watch out for foreign intervention and spies.
“I’m here to support the military. We are against (the regional bloc). We will fight to the end. We do not agree with what France is doing against us. We are done with colonisation,” said Ibrahim Nudirio, one of the residents on patrol.
Some passing cars honked in support. Some people called for solidarity among African nations.
It was not immediately clear on Sunday what ECOWAS will do next.
Supporters of Niger’s ruling junta, accompanied by some security forces, stand guard at a roundabout in Niamey, Niger, early Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023, checking cars for weapons and keeping an eye out for foreign intervention.
Supporters of Niger’s ruling junta, accompanied by some security forces, stand guard at a roundabout in Niamey, Niger, early Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023, checking cars for weapons and keeping an eye out for foreign intervention. © Sam Mednick, AP
2:14pm: Italy cuts troops in Niger to free up military base space for civilians
Italy’s government said on Sunday it had reduced the number of troops it has in Niger to make room in its military base for civilians who may need protection from a fragile security situation.
West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS has threatened military intervention in Niger unless a July 26 military coup is reversed. A deadline for the deposed president, Mohamed Bazoum, to be reinstated expires on Sunday.
The Italian defence ministry said in a statement that a military plane took off from the Nigerien capital Niamey and landed in Rome late on Saturday with 65 Italian soldiers, as well as 10 US soldiers.
The airlift was arranged to increase the “logistical autonomy” of the Italian military base, “optimising its accommodation capacity, if it becomes necessary to take in civilian compatriots and, in an emergency, evacuate them”.
The ministry said more flights out of Niger are planned in the coming days, adding that for the moment 250 Italian troops, deployed for counter-insurgency and military training missions, remain in the country.
9:47am: ECOWAS ‘may wait to see whether sanctions really start to bite’ before launching military intervention
As the ECOWAS deadline fast approaches on Sunday, Paul Melly, a journalist and consulting fellow at Chatham House’s Africa programme, told FRANCE 24 he was uncertain whether the West African regional bloc would launch a military intervention.
“I think at this stage we genuinely don’t know because part of the ECOWAS package is also financial and trade sanctions and they are already biting very hard because Niger is a landlocked country. Most of its trade with the outside world passes through Nigeria and Benin which are ECOWAS states and taking part in the sanctions,” Melly said.
“The border has been closed, Nigeria’s stopped electricity supply. We’ve seen power cuts, we’ve seen already a rise in key consumer goods in Niamey, the Nigerien capital,” Melly added.
ECOWAS “may wait to see whether these sanctions really start to bite and put pressure on – before either going ahead or deciding finally exactly what to do about the military action”.
Melly added that although “the presidents of the ECOWAS states have firmly committed themselves to military action – there’s quite a lot of division within some member states.”
“Opposition politicians in Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal are raising serious questions about this.”
05:34
6:39am: Final hours before a possible military intervention in Niger
Pressure from the international community is mounting on the coup plotters who have seized power in Niger, just hours before the ultimatum issued by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is set to expire on Sunday.
On July 30, four days after the attempted coup d’état against elected president Mohamed Bazoum, ECOWAS gave the coup plotters seven days, i.e., until Sunday evening, to restore him to office or face possible military intervention.
Niger’s new military junta has asked for help from the Russian Wagner group as the deadline nears.
Several West African armies, including Senegal and the Ivory Coast, have said they are ready to send soldiers, according to a source close to the Ivorian delegation in Abuja, who did not specify the number of men that might be deployed.
Mali and Burkina Faso, which are led by junta governments, have warned that they will stand by their neighbour Niger.
1:00am: Algeria opposes military intervention in Niger
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Algeria is categorically against any military intervention in Niger, Ennahar TV said late on Saturday citing President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
“A military intervention could ignite the whole Sahel region and Algeria will not use force with its neighbours,” Tebboune said in an interview with local media.
Key developments from Saturday, August 5:
France’s Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna said on Saturday that France supported “with firmness and determination the efforts of ECOWAS to defeat” the attempted coup in Niger. This statement came the day before the ultimatum issued by ECOWAS, which says it is prepared to intervene militarily, is set to expire.
In Nigeria, senior politicians have urged Bola Tinubu, the head of ECOWAS and president of Nigeria, to reconsider the threatened military intervention.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
