NIGER | Deposed Bazoum warns of ‘devastating’ fallout for world if coup succeeds

NIGER,  August 4, 2023 - AlJazeera - Niger’s ousted President Mohamed Bazoum has called on the international community to return his government to power, warning of “devastating” consequences for the world if the coup against him succeeds.

In an op-ed in the Washington Post, Bazoum, who was deposed last week by the military, said the United States and the rest of the international community must help his country “restore our constitutional order”.

“This coup, launched against my government by a faction in the military on July 26, has no justification whatsoever,” Bazoum said in the column published on Thursday.

“If it succeeds, it will have devastating consequences for our country, our region and the entire world.”

Bazoum, one of a dwindling number of pro-Western leaders in Africa, said the West African country has been a beacon of hope in a region plagued with violent extremism.

“In Africa’s troubled Sahel region, Niger stands as the last bastion of respect for human rights amid the authoritarian movements that have overtaken some of our neighbours,” Bazoum said.

“The entire Sahel region could fall to Russian influence via the Wagner Group, whose brutal terrorism has been on full display in Ukraine,” Bazoum added.

Niger, which gained its independence from France in 1960, has been viewed as one of the reliable partners of the West in fighting extremist groups in Africa’s Sahel region.

The West African country, which borders seven countries including Libya, Chad and Nigeria, is the largest recipient of US military assistance in the region, having received an estimated $500m since 2012.

Niger also hosts more than 2,000 Western troops, mostly from the US and France.

Bazoum’s election in 2021 was the first peaceful transfer of power in Niger since independence.

In an address on state television on Friday, General Abdourahamane Tchiani declared himself the head of a transitional government after toppling the government in order to prevent “the gradual and inevitable demise” of the country.

In the meantime, a planned 30 billion CFA franc ($51m) bond issuance by Niger scheduled for Monday in the West African regional debt market has been cancelled by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) following a coup, market sources said.

At an emergency summit in Nigeria, the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc demanded on Sunday that Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, who was ousted from power last week, be reinstated within a week.

The bloc imposed sanctions on Niger including the halt of all financial transactions and a national assets freeze to try to force the coup plotters to restore constitutional order.

Niger, which is one of the world’s poorest countries and largely depends on external aid and financing, was expected to issue two other bonds in the regional market on August 7 and August 17, according to an issuance calendar of the regional debt management agency.

France, Niger’s former colonial ruler, has condemned the coup. The European Union has suspended security cooperation and financial aid to Niger following Bazoum’s removal, while the United States has warned that its aid could also be at stake.

Niger’s coup leader has declared that he will not bow down to pressure to reinstate deposed President Mohamed Bazoum, criticising sanctions imposed by West African leaders as “illegal” and “inhumane” and urging his countrymen to get ready to defend their nation.

General Abdourahamane Tchiani‘s comments, issued in a televised address on Wednesday, came as the defence chiefs of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met in neighbouring Nigeria to discuss the crisis in Niger.

The regional bloc has imposed severe economic sanctions on Niger and threatened to use force if Bazoum’s presidency is not restored by August 6. It has also dispatched a delegation to Niger – headed by former Nigerian leader Abdulsalami Abubakar – to negotiate with the soldiers who seized power.

Tchiani, however, remained defiant.

The self-declared leader said the military “rejects these sanctions altogether and refuses to give in to any threats, wherever they come from. We refuse any interference in the internal affairs of Niger”.

“We, therefore, call on the people of Niger as a whole and their unity to defeat all those who want to inflict unspeakable suffering on our hard-working populations and destabilise our country,” he added.

Tchiani, who commands Niger’s presidential guard, went on to warn of difficult times ahead and said that the “hostile and radical” attitudes of those who oppose his rule provide no added value. The sanctions imposed by ECOWAS were “illegal, unfair, inhuman and unprecedented”, he said.

The fiery rhetoric marks an intensification of Niger’s standoff with the 15-nation ECOWAS, which has been struggling to contain a democratic backslide in West Africa in the last two years. This has included military takeovers in member states Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea and an attempted coup in Guinea-Bissau.

In Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Abdel-Fatau Musah told reporters on Wednesday that the “military option is the very last option on the table”, but the bloc has to “prepare for the eventuality”.

“There is a need to demonstrate that we can not only bark but can bite,” he said.