It’s a Lannister?, no it’s a Stark, no it’s Targaryen maybe a dragon, no it’s the ECOWAS senior military officers in Accra.
Echoes of the legendary theme song for the popular fantasy television series ‘Game of Thrones’ reverberated in Accra on August 17, 2023, as the ECOWAS senior military officers converged in Accra for a meeting.
It was not a meeting to strategise for the ‘Battle of Winterfell,’ rather, it was an assembly aimed at devising strategies for the sub region to exert pressure on Niger to restore power to the democratically elected President. However, the theme music of HBO’s fantasy television series Game of Thrones was prominently featured when the ECOWAS military chiefs met.
Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum was detained in Niamey on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, by the presidential guard after “talks” which failed and the army issued “an ultimatum” to the guard, AFP learned from a source close to the presidency.
The junta has faced international pressure to release and reinstate Bazoum. Immediately after the coup, the West African regional bloc ECOWAS gave the regime seven days to return him to power and threatened to use military force if that did not happen. The deadline came and went with no action from either side.
ECOWAS later condemned the junta’s treason charges against Bazoum, calling them provocative and contradictory to reported willingness to peacefully restore constitutional order.
The regional bloc has threatened to impose sanctions on the military government in Niger and to “use military force in Niger if necessary” if power was not returned to the democratically elected government.
It is against this background that the meeting was held in Accra on August 17 and will continue on August 18.