ECOWAS | West African military chiefs to discuss Niger crisis Thursday and Friday

MONTEGO BAY,  August 16, 2023 - When the military chiefs from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) meet in Ghana on Thursday and Friday to discuss  the situation in Niger, they may be reluctant to recommend military intervention, given the popular sentiment in favour of Niger's new military leadership, political sources say.

The meeting was called after the bloc’s leaders last week approved the deployment of a “standby force to restore constitutional order” in Niger, whose elected president Mohamed Bazoum was replaced by the military on July 26.

The meeting was originally scheduled for Saturday in Accra but was postponed to this week as ECOWAS continues efforts to negotiate with the Abdourahmane Tchiani-led military government in Niamey.

The heads of state of ECOWAS convened in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, last Thursday and reaffirmed the bloc’s preference for a diplomatic outcome.

“The military option seriously envisaged by ECOWAS is not a war against Niger and its people but a police operation against hostage-takers and their accomplices,” Niger’s Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massaoudou said.

Sources say the meeting was canceled by Ghanaian߇찟筠President Nana Akufo-Addo as a result of the Ashanti kingdom's King Otumfuo Osei Tutu II objection and rejection.

"It will not be in Ghana that you will decide to go to war against the Hausa... who are our cousins... War has  no culture in the history of the Ashanti kingdom!" Says Ashanti King, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

Niger’s neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, also ruled by military governments which seized power in coups, have said intervention would be tantamount to a declaration of war on them.

President Mohamed Bazoum’s election in 2021 was a landmark in Niger’s history, ushering in the first peaceful transfer of power since its independence from France in 1960.

His ouster unleashed a shock wave around West Africa, where Mali and Burkina Faso – which, like Niger, have been struggling to contain armed groups – have also suffered military takeovers.

ECOWAS gave Niger’s military rulers a one-week ultimatum on July 30 to restore Bazoum or face the potential use of force, but the deadline expired without action.

Analysts said military intervention would be operationally risky and politically hazardous given divisions within ECOWAS and domestic criticism.

Niger’s military government has sent mixed signals since the crisis erupted.

Last week, tNiger’s interim leaders said they were open to a diplomatic resolve after Tchiani met with Nigerian mediators after two previous sets were refused an audience with him.