MADRID: Niger’s top diplomat said Ecowas was determined to take military action if the putschists who overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum didn’t stand down, in remarks published on Friday in a Spanish newspaper.

The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) imposed heavy economic sanctions on Niger after the July 26 coup and said it would consider military intervention if talks to restore civilian rule fail.

“Ecowas is determined to carry out a military intervention,” Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou said in an interview with El Pais daily.

On Thursday, Bola Tinubu, president of neighbouring Nigeria and chairman of Ecowas , floated the idea of a nine-month transition back to democracy for Niger’s new regime. He said Nigeria had been able to return to civilian rule in 1999 following a similar nine-month transition period.

UN contacting coup leaders over curbs on its agencies

Niger’s military leaders have insisted they want a three-year transition period to restore constitutional order.

“So far Ecowas has opted for the diplomatic route, which is normal. But if all negotiations fail, it can only offer a military solution,” Massoudou said.

The putschists must “relinquish power and reinstate President Bazoum,” he told the paper, saying Niger’s leader had “no reason whatsoever” to stand down.

“After that, everything is negotiable, their departure terms can be discussed. But there will be no solution unless Bazoum is reinstated. The only way is if the putschists stand down.” The overthrown president was in “reasonable health” despite being “held hostage in his own home with his wife and child with the electricity cut off” with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius, he said.

“Their living conditions are quite hard, but he is in good spirits.” Earlier this week, Algeria, which shares a 1,000-kilometre land border with Niger, proposed a six-month transitional plan for its coup-hit neighbour that would be overseen by a civilian power.

Curbs on UN agencies

The United Nations said on Friday it was seeking contact with Niger coup leaders after they stopped its agencies and other organisations from working in military “operation zones”.

“We’ve seen the reports. We are reaching out to the de facto authorities in Niger to better understand what this means and the implications for the humanitarian work,” UN spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci told reporters in Geneva.

Her comments came after Niger’s interior ministry late on Thursday announced it was stopping UN agencies, NGOs and international organisations from working in military “operation zones”.

It did not specify which regions were affected, but said the measures were “due to the current security situation”. “All activities and or movements in the zones of operations are temporarily suspended,” it said.

Stranded migrants

The UN’s International Organisation for Migration warned on Friday of overcrowding in the migrant transit centres it runs in Niger.

The organisation hosts around 5,000 migrants in seven transit centres positioned along Niger’s migration routes.

It said that more than 1,400 people — mainly from Mali, Guinea, Senegal and Nigeria — had been unable to access the overcrowded centres and were outside awaiting assistance.

IOM is calling for the establishment of humanitarian corridors to allow people to return to their countries of origin, and thus relieve the strain on the centres.

“At this time, there are no possibilities for us to organise charter flights, and consequently people will remain there for weeks and months,” Christopher Gascon, IOM’s regional director for West and Central Africa, told journalists in Geneva.

Opening up humanitarian corridors would allow aid workers to bring migrants to the airport and organise charter flights out, he said.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2023