Military junta in Niger cancelled a large number of military cooperation agreements with France on Thursday. The move could make the fight against Islamist insurgents more challenging in a country where democratic leader, President Mohamed Bazoum, was ousted a week before.
Niger is surrounded by nations like Burkina Faso and Mali in West Africa where military coup are common. Like its neighbours, Niger’s military coup took place as citizens’ resentment toward France was growing and the supporters of the junta sloganeered against them, while destroying the plaque reading “Embassy of France”. Some of them also alleged that France, the former colonial power, was interfering in Niger’s matters.
To combat the insurgency by organisations affiliated with al Qaeda and the Islamic State that has destabilised West Africa’s Sahel area, France has deployed between 1,000 and 1,500 troops in Niger.
Late on Thursday, junta delegate Amadou Abdramane read out a resolution regarding the cancellation of five military agreements with France, spanning from 1977 to 2020. Abdramane stated that France will be informed of this diplomatically.
Following the overthrow of Bazoum, the eighth coup in West and Central Africa since 2020, Niger’s regional and Western allies, especially France, have applied severe sanctions to force the coup leaders to reinstate constitutional order.
The former commander of Niger’s presidential guard, junta leader Abdourahamane Tiani, has made it clear that he will not back down.
Despite data on attacks in the nation showing that security has actually been improving, Tiani has used continuing instability as his primary pretext for taking power for which he has received the support of the juntas in Mali and Burkina Faso.
Former president Bazoum stated that he is a hostage and urged the international community to reinstate the rule of law in an opinion piece that appeared in the Washington Post on Thursday. “This coup, launched against my government by a faction in the military on July 26, has no justification whatsoever. If it succeeds, it will have devastating consequences for our country, our region and the entire world,” he wrote.
Earlier on Thursday, Niger banned broadcasts of the French state-funded international news stations France 24 and RFI, a move that was denounced by the French foreign ministry as another example of the junta’s hostility towards former partners.
The action is reminiscent of similar post-coup crackdowns on French media carried out by juntas in Mali and Burkina Faso, both of which expelled French troops, many of whom are now stationed in Niger.
Hundreds of protesters demonstrated against foreign pressure on the coup leaders on Thursday in the Nigerien capital Niamey. In addition to penalties, the main regional organisation, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has warned that if soldiers do not return Bazoum to power by Sunday, it may authorise the use of force.
The junta announced on Thursday that Niger’s armed forces will retaliate immediately and without prior notice against any ECOWAS member state, with the exception of those that are friendly to Niger, in response to any aggression or attempted aggression by ECOWAS.
