Posts
- ECOWAS Delegates Meet Ousted President.
- We Are ‘Ready’ For Military Intervention In Niger Republic-ECOWAS
- Burkina Faso, Mali Deploy War Planes After ECOWAS Threat
- Border Communities in Nigeria Reject ECOWAS War Option
By Lawrence Enyoghasu
General Abdourahamane Tchiani, leader of the Niger junta, has said the army will hand over power to the civilian government within the next three years.
He stated this in a televised broadcast on Saturday night after meeting with a delegation of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) led by the former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd).
General Tchiani said within a month, the junta will form a committee to study and form the new constitution of the country.
While he maintained that Niger does not want to go to war, the General said the county will defend itself if the need arises.
He, however, added that the door fir negotiation was still open.
ECOWAS is yet to react to the speech of the junta leader but Abdulsalami is expected to brief the regional bloc on the outcome of the meeting.
Meanwhile, Niger’s military-appointed prime minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, assured that the deposed president Mohamed Bazoum would be safe and unharmed.
Recall President Bola Tinubu Friday warned that impending ‘grave consequences’ should the military rulers of Niger allow Bazoum’s health to deteriorate while under house arrest.
Lamine Zeine told The New York Times that, “Nothing will happen to him, because we don’t have a tradition of violence in Niger.”
Niger’s new rulers have so far shown little flexibility and warned against an “illegal aggression”.
Meanwhile, Radio France International reported that thousands of volunteers turned out in central Niamey on Saturday answering a call to register as civilian auxiliaries who could be mobilised to support the army.
This is coming on the heels of ECOWAS force readiness to intervene in Niger ‘anytime the order is given’, after a two-day meeting of the regional bloc’s military chiefs in Accra, capital city of Ghana.
On the other hand, Abdulsalami has said that ousted Niger President Mohamed Bazoum told the delegation that the challenges he has faced since he was detained by the military junta .
Abdulsalami led a high-powered delegation of the ECOWAS to the troubled West African nation.
The delegation met with Prime Minister Ali Zeine who received them at the airport and led them to the presidential palace.
They met with Tchiani, and his team for about 90 minutes and later President Mohamed Bazoum.
Speaking with journalists after the meeting with Bazoum, Abdulsalami said, “We met him and heard his side of the story. He told us what was done to him and the challenges he is facing.
“We will communicate this to ECOWAS leaders. Doors for talks are now open for a lasting solution.”
The former Head of State did not go into details of the discussion with the ousted president.
But some weeks ago, CNN quoted Bazoum in a series of text messages to a friend as saying he had been “deprived of all human contact”, with no one supplying him food or medicine.
According to the overthrown president, he had been living without electricity, a normal occurrence for all Nigeriens after Nigeria cut off electric power in response to the coup.
Bazoum said all of the perishable food he was supplied with has since gone bad, and he was now eating dry pasta and rice.
Burkina Faso and Mali have deployed war planes to Niger Republic following the Economic Community of West Africa possible armed intervention to restore democracy in Niger Republic..
Niger television station reported joint efforts by Mali and Burkina Faso in support of Niger and the deployment of warplanes within Niger’s borders on Friday.
“Mali and Burkina Faso turned their commitments into concrete action by deploying warplanes to respond to any attack on Niger,” it said, noting the planes were Super Tucano fighter jets.
The coup leaders imprisoned President Mohamed Bazoum on June 26 and dissolved the elected government of Niger, a major uranium producer and Western ally in the fight against an Islamist insurgency.
On July 30, ECOWAS, led by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, decided on sanctions against the military personnel in Niger and gave a week ultimatum to the military junta to restore ousted Bazoum to office.
After the one-week ultimatum expired, West African leaders met on August 10 and approved a “standby force” to reinstate elected Bazoum.
The coupists had called the bluff of ECOWAS and vowed to resist foreign intervention.
Subsequently, ECOWAS Defence Chiefs were ordered to activate the region’s force for action to restore civil rule in Niger, noting that it will invade the country on the “D-Day.”
But the military governments in Mali and Burkina Faso called ECOWAS’s bluff, saying an armed intervention in Niger would be met with force.
The television station said the military leaders from Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger convened Friday in the Nigerien capital Niamey to decide on “concrete measures” in case ECOWAS chooses to “escalate a war.”
No comments