Bazoum Will Die If Military Intervenes – Niger Junta Warns ECOWAS
Amid ongoing diplomatic initiatives by the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, the Republic of Niger’s military junta has threatened to kill deposed President Mohamed Bazoum if neighboring countries attempt any military intervention to restore his rule.
Agency reports quoted two Western officials as disclosing this to a top United States (US) diplomat, even as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Thursday ordered the Chief of Defence Staff Committee (CDSC) to immediately activate its standby force for any eventuality.
Specifically, reports by Daily Mail, said a Western military official hinted that representatives of the junta had informed the US Under Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland, of the threat to Bazoum’s life during her visit to the country earlier this week.
The directives came from the ECOWAS Commission President, Omar Alieu Touray while reading the resolution reached during the extraordinary meeting on the Niger coup in Abuja on Thursday.
The ECOWAS leaders had converged on Abuja, the Nigerian capital to further discuss their next line of action after the expiration of their seven-day ultimatum for the reinstatement of President Bazoum without compliance from the Military junta.
While expressing regrets that all efforts to dialogue with the Niger junta have been rejected by the country’s coup leaders, the ECOWAS leaders also used the opportunity to condemn the continuous detention of President Mohamed Bazoum and his family members.
Similarly, the Associated Press also reported that a US official confirmed that account, but on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to grant any media interview on the developments in the Niger Republic.
Following Bazoum’s ouster on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, the military junta, which has continued to reject all entreaties for dialogue with ECOWAS delegations, on Tuesday appointed Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, Niger’s foremost economist and official of the African Development Bank (AfDB) as the Prime Minister to head the newly-constituted government.
