Niger’s military administration has rebuffed the recent diplomatic endeavor by African nations aimed at reinstating constitutional order following the July 26 coup. This rejection stands in defiance against pressure from both the United States and the United Nations to engage in negotiations.
Reports from the French publication Jeune Afrique reveal that the African Union (AU) had intended to dispatch a collaborative mission involving representatives from the United Nations and the West African ECOWAS bloc to Niger on Tuesday. However, the military government withheld permission and also imposed a closure on Niger’s airspace.
Leaders within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are gearing up for a summit scheduled for Thursday, where they plan to address the impasse with Niger’s coup leaders. These leaders have defied a Sunday ultimatum to reinstate the ousted President Mohamed Bazoum. Although discussions on the potential for military intervention are on the agenda, ECOWAS emphasizes that this is considered a final option.
An AU spokesperson has confirmed the denial of mission access to Reuters, while ECOWAS has chosen not to comment on the matter. The coup leaders had previously declined interactions with a high-ranking US representative and another delegation from ECOWAS that had attempted to negotiate.
During Bazoum’s tenure, Niger made significant progress in containing a violent insurgency that had ravaged the Sahel region. The nation also held strategic importance as a key Western ally, particularly after its neighboring countries distanced themselves from their former colonial patron France in favor of Russia.
Niger’s status as the seventh-largest global producer of uranium, a vital fuel for nuclear energy, adds to its strategic significance.
“There’s no doubt that diplomacy is the best way to resolve this situation,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told French radio station RFI on Tuesday.
He mentioned that the support of the United States was behind ECOWAS’s endeavors to reinstate order. However, he refrained from discussing the fate of the 1,100 US troops stationed in Niger, a location where troops from France, Germany, and Italy are also present.
The United Nations conveyed that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres vehemently endorsed mediation efforts undertaken by ECOWAS.
On Friday, the defense chiefs of ECOWAS reached a consensus on a potential military action strategy, which is anticipated to be deliberated by their respective heads of state during the upcoming summit in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
In response, the West African bloc has enforced sanctions on Niger, with its Western allies opting to suspend aid.
Acting Deputy Secretary of State of the US, Victoria Nuland, embarked on a journey to Niamey on Monday. Regrettably, she was denied authorization to meet with coup leader Abdourahamane Tchiani or detained President Bazoum. Instead, she engaged in a two-hour conversation with other senior army officers.
“These conversations were extremely frank and at times quite difficult because, again, we’re pushing for a negotiated solution. … They are quite firm in their view of how they want to proceed, and it does not comport with the Constitution of Niger,” Nuland told reporters.
In the preceding week, ECOWAS dispatched a delegation to Niamey under the leadership of Abdulsalami Abubakar, a former military leader of Nigeria. However, Tchiani declined to meet with him.
In stark contrast, Tchiani engaged in a meeting on Monday with a united delegation hailing from Mali and Burkina Faso. These are neighboring nations where the military has similarly taken control from civilian governments. The military regimes in these two countries have openly expressed their solidarity with the coup in Niger.
“We will not accept military intervention in Niger. Our survival depends on it,” Abdoulaye Maiga, a spokesman for Mali’s military government, said in an appearance on Niger state television.
Western allies worry that Niger might follow Mali’s example, where a military government overthrew French soldiers and UN forces in 2021 and welcomed in mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group in their place.
Hundreds of people were executed last year by fighters thought to be from Wagner working with the Malian army in a savage military attack, according to witnesses and rights organizations. Wagner and the army refute the accusations.