Following a two-day summit in Ghana of the commanders of the ECOWAS forces, ECOWAS repeated its threat of military action on Friday to dissuade the junta that conducted a coup in Niger late last month and arrested elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
The decision on the exact date of the military intervention in Niger has been made, but we will not announce it,” ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security Abdelfattah Moussa said on Friday, adding that any intervention in Niamey would be brief and aimed at restoring constitutional order. “We have already agreed on what will be required for any intervention in Niger,” he explained. “We are ready to enter Niger at any time the order is issued,” he declared, demanding Niger’s president and his family’s immediate release.
He stated that while the military option is not preferred by the economic group, “we are forced to do so due to the intransigence of the military council in Niger.” If diplomatic efforts fail, the ECOWAS commissioner stated yesterday that a military response is ready. He also stated in remarks on Thursday that all member states of the group, with the exception of those under military rule and Cape Verde, are ready to engage in a reserve force that may intervene, according to Reuters.
If a decision is made, thousands of troops from Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Benin are expected to take part in the military operation. According to some experts, the process might take weeks or months to prepare. ECOWAS, which has placed a slew of economic and travel sanctions on Niger, has branded the coup a “dangerous development” and threatened military action.
However, as time passed and negotiations were delayed, the SCAF cemented its position, leaving ECOWAS with few options. According to Andrew Leibovich, a researcher at the Dutch Clingendale Institute of International Relations, “the economic group has a few good options, especially since the military council currently seems unwilling to concede to external pressure.”
Military engagement might backfire and harm the organization in a variety of ways, while failing to gain meaningful concessions from the junta could exacerbate political confusion at a time when the organization is already frail. ECOWAS has already failed to curb the rampant military coups in this African region, which neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali have witnessed in the last three years.
