War, mediation or silence? Deadline for coup leaders in Niger passes

Stocking up on rice, fleeing the capital by bus or vowing to defend their new military leaders, many in Niger braced this weekend for a deadline imposed by a 15-member bloc of West African nations for the country’s junta to relinquish power.

But that deadline to restore democracy or face military action expired Sunday.

After mutinous soldiers detained Niger’s democratically elected president July 26, the bloc, the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, gave the junta the ultimatum, raising fears of a regional conflict in a part of Africa that includes some of the world’s poorest countries and that is already plagued by Islamist insurgencies, widespread food insecurity and the extreme effects of climate change.

But the ultimatum has also rallied many Nigeriens behind their new military leaders. On Sunday, tens of thousands of defiant junta supporters thronged the largest stadium in the capital, Niamey, voicing their anger against ECOWAS and chanting the name of the military official who claims to be in charge: Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani.

West African officials said they would employ force only as a last resort, and most analysts said a conflict appeared unlikely, at least in the near term. But ECOWAS military officials said they did have a plan for an intervention, if needed.

“Democracy must be restored, through diplomacy or force,” Gen Christopher Gwabin Musa, Niger’s chief of defense staff, said Saturday in a telephone interview.

But the mutineers who were holding President Mohamed Bazoum said they would resist any effort to remove them from power, leaving Niger’s future — and that of its people — hanging in the balance.

On Sunday, Niger closed its airspace, citing the potential threat of outside military intervention.

Asmana Rachidou, 33, a father of six, was shopping for milk powder and packets of rice in downtown Niamey on Saturday. Prices have soared since ECOWAS imposed financial sanctions on the country. “If ECOWAS strikes, it will be over for us all, not only for the military,” Rachidou said.

Bazoum, a key Western ally who was elected in 2021, has refused to resign, and the military officials in charge have so far ignored calls to release him.

They have also rebuffed threats by the United States and the European Union to cut ties, instead turning toward two neighboring countries, Burkina Faso and Mali, that have also had coups in recent years and have since moved closer to Russia.