Source: Africa ExPress
According to ECOWAS, 11 of the 15 member states have agreed to participate in a military mission, saying they are “ready to go” as soon as the order is givenBy
Special for Africa ExPress
Cornelia I. Toelgyes
August 20, 2023
This morning thousands of young people gathered again in Niamey in support of the putschists.
Placards with “No to the sanctions”, “Down with France” and “Stop the military intervention” were raised in the Place de la Concertation of the capital, as has already happened on the occasion of previous demonstrations in favor of the coup plotters, in power since 26 last July.
And yesterday, thousands and thousands of youngsters , mostly just of legal age, lined up outside the main stadium in Niamey to register as volunteers or fighters in case of a military attack by ECOWAS (Community Economic Community of African States Western). However, the organizers of the recruitment campaign have specified that they do not intend to enlist volunteers for the army, but rather draw up a list of people willing to lend their civilian skills in the event of a military attack by ECOWAS.
Some parents have brought their children to enroll; others said they had been waiting since 3am as groups of young people chanted in favor of military leaders and against ECOWAS and France.
According to the Reuters agency, many young people who have come to join the lists are unemployed and many of them seem eager to fight.
The coup and subsequent international sanctions severely damaged Niger’s already fragile economy. According to the World Bank, in the country, one of the least developed in the world, more than 40 percent of the population lives in conditions of extreme poverty.
On Friday, ECOWAS Peace and Security Commissioner Abdel-Fatau Musah said 11 out of 15 member states had agreed to commit their troops to military deployment, saying they were “ready to go” as soon as given permission. ‘order. The countries that will not participate in any armed intervention are obviously Niger to which are added its allies Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso. Bamako and Ougadougou have also stressed that they consider an intervention in Niger as an act of war. And it seems that, according to what was reported by Nigerien state TV, the two states have already deployed their air fleets as a sign of solidarity.
The Nigerien Prime Minister, Mahamane Lamine Zeine, appointed by the coup plotters, and another member of the military junta briefly received the ECOWAS delegation headed by the former Nigerian president, Abdulsalami Abubakar, at Niamey airport. The representatives of the Economic Community were also able to visit Bazoum, the legitimately elected president ousted by the coup, under house arrest, but whose residence is still without electricity.
The delegation also held talks with Abdourahamane Tiani, Niger’s strongman, and other members of the junta. A few hours after the meeting with the representatives of ECOWAS, on live TV Tiani proposed a three-year transition and warned that any attack on the country “will not be easy” for the people involved.
“Our defense forces”, supported by Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea, “will not withdraw”, he declared and finally added: “Our ambition is not to take power”, he promised.
Meanwhile, this morning there was a rumor that yesterday a Russian plane landed in Niamey carrying militiamen from the Wagner paramilitary group. After careful examination of the frame posted on many accounts, Africa ExPress could easily verify that the Il-76 has arrived in Bamako. A fake news launched to create more confusion in an already very uncertain situation. There were several high-ranking officers of the company on board the aircraft. We could not verify whether their boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was among them.
While the purpose of the visit has not yet been disclosed, some experts believe the arrival of the Russian company’s executives could be linked to deteriorating security in the region. Discussions about possible cooperation with neighboring Niger are also not excluded.
The fact is that, according to what Serge Daniel , a journalist well informed on issues in the Sahel, reports on his Twitter account, the situation in Timbuktu is somewhat worrying. From threats, the Jahadists of the JNIM (Group of Support for Islam and Muslims) passed to deeds and with the dismantling of the bases of MINUSMA (UN peace mission in Mali), whose mandate also included the protection of civilians , the population is desperate.
Cornelia I. Toelgyes
corneliacit@hotmail.it
Martin Plaut 