Leaders from the West African bloc ECOWAS will meet on Thursday for an emergency summit on the coup in Niger, after the country’s military chiefs defied an ultimatum to restore the elected president. The summit comes as Niger’s coup leaders announced they had formed a new government. Read our live blog for all the latest developments. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
Text by : FRANCE 24 Follow | FRANCE 24
9:31am : Any military intervention in Niger would lead to a ‘ripple effect’
FRANCE 24’s Chinwe Ossundu, reporting from Lagos, Nigeria, discussed potential outcomes from ECOWAS’s second emergency summit on the situation in Niger on Thursday.
“We’re expecting that the heads of state of the members of ECOWAS are going to revisit this decision [of military intervention] and have a rethink because it has been opposed by international bodies both at home and abroad and also by Nigerians and some citizens and opinion leaders in the West African state,” Ossondu said.
Any military intervention in Niger would lead to a “ripple effect” and “it cannot be afforded at this time”, Ossundu added.
Ossondu added that the meeting between Nigerian spiritual leader Lamido Muhammad Sanusi and Nigerien coup leader General Tiani on Wednesday offered “some sign of hope [for a diplomatic path]”.
Click on the video below to watch her report in full.
9:10am : Niger junta announces new govt, names 21 ministers on state TV
Niger’s coup leaders have formed a new government, according to the country’s new strongman, General Abdourahamane Tiani, who read out a statement on national television on Wednesday night.
The 21-member government, announced just before an emergency summit of Niger’s West African neighbours in Abuja on Thursday, is headed by Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine and includes 20 ministers, including the defence and interior ministers.
5:28am : UN’s Guterres ‘very concerned’ over Bazoum detention conditions
The United Nations chief on Wednesday expressed grave concern over what he called the “deplorable” conditions of Niger leader Mohamed Bazoum‘s detainment and called for his release.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounced “the deplorable living conditions that President Bazoum and his family are reported to be living under”, according to a UN statement.
CNN reported Wednesday that Bazoum was being kept isolated and forced to eat dry rice and pasta by the rebels who overthrew him in a coup late last month.
In a series of text messages Bazoum sent to a friend, the president said he had been “deprived of all human contact since Friday”, with no one supplying him food or medicine, the network reported.
3:55am : Crucial ECOWAS summit to take place after ultimatum to putchists ignored
Leaders from West African bloc ECOWAS will meet on Thursday for an emergency summit on the coup in Niger, after the country’s military chiefs defied an ultimatum to restore the elected president.
Two weeks after the coup that toppled Mohamed Bazoum, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) says it is seeking a diplomatic solution but has not ruled out using force to resolve the crisis.
Important decisions are expected from the gathering in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, according to a statement from the 15-nation organisation on Tuesday.
Struggling to stem a cascade of coups among its members since 2020, the bloc gave the troops who seized power on July 26 until last Sunday to reinstate Bazoum or face the potential use of force.
Coup leaders remained defiant, however, and the deadline passed without action.
The possibility of a military intervention in Niger, a fragile nation that ranks among the world’s poorest, has sparked debate within ECOWAS and warnings from neighbouring Algeria and Russia.
Key developments from Wednesday, August 9 :
Niger’s junta met with two envoys of Nigerian President and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) chair Bola Tinubu in the capital Niamey on Wednesday, a Nigerian government source said. It remains unclear what was discussed during the meetings.
The French government rejects accusations by Niger’s new military rulers that it freed “terrorists” and violated the country’s air space, a government source said Wednesday. Niamey accused France of having released several jihadists and of allowing a military plane to take off despite an ongoing air space closure.
Read yesterday’s live blog to see how the day’s events unfolded.
