ECOWAS leaders will gather on Thursday for an emergency conference on the Niger coup, after the country’s military chiefs refused an ultimatum to reinstate the elected president.
Two weeks after Mohamed Bazoum was deposed in a coup, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) says it is pursuing a diplomatic solution but has not ruled out the use of force to resolve the conflict.
According to a statement issued by the 15-nation organization on Tuesday, important decisions would be made at the meeting in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.
Struggling to stop a chain reaction of coups among its members since 2020, the alliance gave the military, who took power on July 26 until last Sunday, to reinstate Bazoum or face the threat of force.
The coup leaders, however, remained resolute, and the deadline passed with no action.
According to a proclamation read out on national television on Thursday, the military chiefs named a new government in their latest show of defiance against international pressure.
Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine will lead the 21-member administration, with defense and interior ministries headed by generals from the new military ruling council.
The prospect of military intervention in Niger, a fragile country that ranks among the poorest in the world, has provoked debate within ECOWAS as well as concerns from neighboring Algeria and Russia.
Both Mali and Burkina Faso, who are run by military administrations that seized power in coups, have declared that such intervention would be a declaration of war on their countries.
