The political crisis in Niger has degenerated after the ECOWAS deadline for the reinstatement of the ousted president, Bazoum elapsed. On the 26th of July 2023, members of Niger’s elite presidential guard arrested and detained the country’s president, Mohamed Bazoum. The coupists proclaimed themselves as the new authority.
Following that ouster, the political and economic alliance of 15 West African nations, including regional powerhouses like Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal, ECOWAS, at an emergency session on the 30th of July, issued the new military junta in Niger a seven-day ultimatum to release Bazoum and restore him to the presidency. ECOWAS, in a session on Thursday, declared a standby force in Niger in anticipation of military intervention in the West African country.
This is in addition to the slew of economic and commercial restrictions placed on Niger in an effort to put pressure on the junta to back down. The sanctions include halting power imports from Nigeria and freezing Niger’s assets at the regional central bank.
The largest economy in Africa and Niger’s southern neighbour, Nigeria, supplies around 75% of the electricity that Niger uses.
In response, Mali and Burkina Faso, whose coups were also condemned by ECOWAS, have issued a warning that they would support the junta in Niamey and would regard any armed action in Niger as a declaration of war.
There has been growing opposition to Nigeria’s intervention. Analysts have cautioned that an intervention might escalate an otherwise peaceful coup into a regional conflagration that will kill several civilians.
Why is the West interested in Niger?
The U.S. and European governments have partnered closely with Bazoum and the Nigerien military in the fight against Islamist terrorists in Africa’s Sahel area.
The US and France have a compounded interest in Niger, and it’s largely about the war between Al-Qaeda and Islamic State extremists, who recently massacred thousands of people in the Sahel. Niger remains at the center of this war. After the military-led governments in Mali and Burkina Faso expelled the French and other Western troops battling Islamist terrorists there, Niger gained even more prominence. The Nigerien military had previously been supplied with equipment worth over $500 million by the US. About 1,100 American soldiers are stationed in Niger, where they have trained the nation’s special forces and provided mission advice. There are also about 1,500 French soldiers stationed in Niger.
The suspension of the export of Uranium from Niger to France has also strained the relationship between Niger and by extension other European states. Niger produces about 5% of the world’s uranium output.
Who is General Omar Tchiani?
General Omar Tchiani, commonly known as Abdourahamane, was not famous before leading the coup to overthrow the Bazoum-led government.
Tchiani hails from Tillaberic, the western district of Niger close to the Mali border which is a major army recruitment hub. He was the first officer on the scene when a suitcase bomb explosion caused a French airplane to crash in 1989 near Bilma in northern Niger, according to Reuters. All passengers aboard this flight perished.
He previously served as a military attaché at Niger’s embassy in Germany and commanded a battalion in Agadez, which was formerly regarded as the world’s smuggling capital. He routinely oversaw operations against traffickers in Niger’s desert.
He was chosen by former President Mahamadou Issoufou in 2011 to command the presidential guards. Issoufou, who elevated Tchiani to the rank of a general in 2018, remains a close friend to date.
In March 2021, some soldiers attempted to capture the presidential palace only days before Bazoum, who had just been elected, was scheduled to be sworn in. Tchiani reportedly led the team that botched the coup attempt. Since attaining independence from France in 1960, Bazoum’s election was the first orderly and democratic transition of power in Niger. As soon as he assumed office, he retained the general as the commander of the presidential guards, a unique group of around 2,000 men.