Niger junta warned of killing deposed president

| August 11, 2023

Niger’s junta told a top US diplomat that they would kill deposed President Mohamed Bazoum if regional countries attempted any military intervention to restore his rule.

Representatives of the junta told US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland of the threat to Bazoum during her visit to the country this week, a Western military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

A US official confirmed that account, also speaking on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Bazoum was deposed by coup leaders on July 26 and says he is being held hostage at his residence.

West African heads of state began meeting on Thursday on next steps after Niger’s military junta defied their deadline to reinstate the deposed president, but analysts say the bloc known as ECOWAS may be running out of options as support fades for a military intervention.

Nine of the 11 heads of state expected to attend were present, including the presidents of Senegal, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone. The non-ECOWAS leaders of Mauritania and Burundi also participated in the closed-door meeting in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.

“It is crucial that we prioritise diplomatic negotiations and dialogue as the bedrock of our approach,” said Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who currently chairs the bloc, said before the closed part of the meeting. He said leaders must act with a “sense of urgency,” though appeared to retreat from the bloc’s earlier threat to use force.

Niger was seen as the last country in the Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert that Western nations could partner with to counter jihadi violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group that has killed thousands and displaced millions of people. The international community is scrambling to find a peaceful solution to the country’s leadership crisis.

On Wednesday, a Nigerian delegation led by the former Emir of Kano, Khalifa Muhammad Sanusi, met the junta’s leader, General Abdourahmane Tchiani. The former emir was one of few people allowed to meet Tchiani.

Since seizing power, the junta has cut ties with France and exploited popular grievances toward its former colonial ruler to shore up its support base. It also has asked for help from the Russian mercenary group Wagner, which operates in a handful of African countries and has been accused of committing human rights abuses.

While there’s no reason to believe Russia was behind the coup, it will leverage the opportunity to gain a stronger foothold in the region, something Western nations were trying to avoid, Sahel experts say.

Meanwhile, Niger’s approximately 25 million people are feeling the impact of the sanctions.

Some neighbourhoods in the capital, Niamey have little access to electricity and there are frequent power cuts across the city. The country gets up to 90 per cent of its power from Nigeria, which has cut off some of the supply.