Niger Coup: Nigeria, Benin, Ivory Coast, Senegal activate troops to invade Niger

At the backdrop of support by African Union for the ECOWAS countries’ preparedness to restore constitutional order, Nigeria, Benin, Ivory Coast and Senegal have activated their troops to invade Niger.

Niger is a French colony that doesn’t enjoy cooperation of France following the overthrow of Mohamed Bazoum, a civilian president of the country, who has also been in detention with his family and members of his cabinet by the military junta.

The President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led ECOWAS after an extra ordinary meeting at the ECOWAS headquarters, Abuja issued a communique directing member countries to standby their troops amid diplomatic option to settle the impasse.

Following this development, CAPITAL POST learnt on good authority that that the Chief of Army Staff of the ECOWAS countries will, next week Saturday, in Accra, Ghana, meet to prepare plans for a possible military intervention in Niger.

“One meeting is being planned for next week,” Reuters quoted the ECOWAS spokesperson as saying.

While Benin, Senegal, and Nigeria have committed to the intervention in principles without providing details of its deployment, the president of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, revealed that his country would commit a battalion of 850 to 1,100 troops to ECOWAS’ move to restore democratic rule to Niger following lack of success in its diplomatic efforts.

The Nigerian military did not respond to request for comment on the actual number of troops the country will be contributing to the ECOWAS standby force.

Recall that the West African regional bloc after its emergency meeting in Abuja on Thursday ordered its Committee of the Chiefs of Defence Staff to immediately activate its standby force with all its elements.

While the decision of ECOWAS to activate its standby force has been trailed by criticism both in Nigeria and Niger, Army chiefs from member-states like Benin and Senegal corroborated Ouattara’s revelation of commitment from the member-states to the military intervention.

Ouattara had said after the Abuja meeting that aside from his country’s deployment, soldiers from Nigeria and Benin would also be deployed.

He said ECOWAS had intervened in African countries in order to restore constitutional order before.

Benin’s army spokesman was quoted to have said on Friday that they would contribute troops without revealing the number while Senegal had earlier revealed it would contribute troops if there were an intervention.

On their part, Gambia’s defence minister, Sering Modou Njie, and Liberia’s minister of information, Ledgerhood Rennie, said that they had not yet taken a decision to send troops.

Military governments in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, both ECOWAS members, have said they would defend the junta in Niger.
On Friday, Burkina Faso’s junta-led government suspended one of the country’s most popular radio stations after it broadcast an interview deemed “insulting” to Niger’s new military leaders.

Radio Omega was immediately suspended on Thursday “until further notice,” Communications Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo informed in a statement.