Niger coup: ECOWAS delegation arrives in Niger
Niamey, Niger (PANA) - A delegation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) arrived in the Niger capital, Niamey, on Saturday for talks with the military junta that had previously rejected any meeting with the sub-regional bloc and demanded the reinstatement of ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
They arrived a day after ECOWAS military chiefs announced after their two-day meeting in Accra that they had finalised their plan to deploy a standby force to move into Niger as demanded by the heads of state on 10 August.
Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, told a press conference in on Friday that all options, including diplomacy, were still on the table.
He said the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) led by General Abdourahmane Tchiani, head of the Presidential Guard, was now willing to talk.
The ECOWAS delegation has met Bazoum and Gen. Tchiani.
Ambassador Musah announced that an ECOWAS mission would go to Niger on Saturday to pursue the peaceful path, but warned: "We are not going to be banging on the door when they continue to slam it on us. If all peaceful overtures fail, then we will go for the military option and it will be surgical and short lived."
"We are ready to go any time the order (by the heads of state) is given. The D-Day is also decided which we are not going to disclose. There will be no more meetings of Chiefs of the Defence Staff. This is the last meeting of the ECOWAS chiefs of Defence Staff (on the Niger crisis)."
Now, an ECOWAS mission, headed by former Nigerian leader, Abdulsalami Abubakar, who was confined to the airport on his previous mission, has arrived and is expected to meet the military leaders.
They had also rejected a joint UN,AU, ECOWAS mission. The only mission that met them was a team of Islamic scholars from Nigeria.
Reports said the UN Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel, Leonardo Santos Simao, also arrived on Friday for talks with the junta.
Soldiers toppled the government of President Bazoum on 26 July and despite efforts to resolve the crisis diplomatically, they have "defiantly" rejected them.
Mali and Burkina Faso have warned that they would join Niger in resisting a military action.
Opinion is divided about a military action, which is feared would create more problems for the country and the subregion.
Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire have been the leading voices of military action but other countries have expressed doubts about such a move.
At their meeting on 30 July, ECOWAS leaders slapped a series of stiff political and financial sanctions, including closure of all land borders and a no-fly zone on Niger, which are biting hard.
ECOWAS has also suspended all commercial and financial transactions between its member states and Niger.
Others are freeze of all service transaction including utility services; freeze of assets of Niger in ECOWAS Central Banks; freeze of assets of the Niger State and the State Enterprises and Parastatals in Commercial Banks; suspension of Niger from all financial assistance and transactions with all financial institutions, particularly, ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) and West African Development Bank (BOAD).
The sanctions also involve travel ban and asset freeze for the military officials involved in the coup attempt, their family members and civilians who accept to participate in any institutions or government established by these military officials.
Statistics show that Niger is one of the world’s poorest countries with more than 10 million people (over 40% of the population) living in extreme poverty.
But it is also the world’s youngest with 49% of the population currently under 15, according to the World Bank.
As of June 2023, there were over 400,000 internally displaced people in Niger as well as 300,000 refugees and asylum seekers.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says 4.3 million (1 out of 6 people in the country) were in need of humanitarian assistance in early 2023.
According to Global Protection Cluster, a a group of NGOs and international organisations and UN agencies, preliminary analysis shows that over 1.4 million people are exposed to additional protection risks as sanctions and the suspension of foreign aid are expected to lead the most vulnerable populations to resort to negative strategies in order to cope with the increased cost of living.
OCHA also says that only 37% of the US 584 million requested to meet humanitarian needs in 2023 have been disbursed so far.
-0- PANA MA 19Aug2023
