Preparing Military Intervention in Niger If Diplomatic Efforts Fail, ECOWAS: Constitutional Order Will Be Restored

The meeting of heads of ECOWAS member countries to discuss the Niger coup in Abuja. (Twitter/@ecowas_cedeao)

JAKARTA - The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is ready to intervene militarily in Niger, if diplomatic efforts to reverse the coup there fail, a senior official told army chiefs who met in Ghana on Thursday to discuss details of the standby troops.

Niger's military junta overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, defying calls by the United Nations, ECOWAS, and Western countries to restore a legitimate government, leading ECOWAS to order an alert force.

"Let no one doubt that if all else fails, the brave troops of West Africa... are ready to answer the call of duty," ECOWAS Commissioner for Political, Peace and Security Affairs Abdel-Fatau Musah said.

"By all means available, constitutional order will be restored in the country," he told defense chiefs assembled from member states, citing the deployment of ECOWAS in Gambia, Liberia, and elsewhere as an example of preparedness.

Niger itself has strategic importance outside of West Africa, because of its role as a hub for foreign troops engaged in the fight against jihadist rebels in the Sahel region, and because of its uranium and oil reserves.

Western countries fear the junta could follow in the footsteps of neighboring Mali, where the military government expelled French troops and instead invited mercenaries from Russia's Wagner group, which welcomed the coup in Niger.

Musah rejects accusations that ECOWAS was manipulated by France or other outside powers.

"What they forget is, ECOWAS is a rules-based organization. We have protocols, we have our norms and we are prepared to protect them," he explained.

"That's why heads of state say if push comes to shove, we'll go to Niger with our own contingent, our own equipment, and our own resources to ensure we restore constitutional order. If other democracy-loving partners want to support us, they support us welcome," said Musah.

Musah accused Niger's coup leaders of "playing cat-and-mouse" with ECOWAS, refusing to meet its envoys and seeking justification for the coup.

He added that the majority of the bloc's 15 member states were ready to participate in a standby force that could intervene in Niger. The exceptions are those which are also under military rule such as Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, and tiny Cape Verde.