Niger: nearly 30,000 supporters of the military coup in a stadium in Niamey

Some 30,000 Niger coup supporters gathered in Niamey on Sunday in a show of force hours from the end of a West African ultimatum calling on the military who seized power to restore ousted President Bazoum, under penalty of use of “force”. In the moist heat, protesters flocked in the afternoon and filled the Seini Kountché stadium, the largest in Niger with a capacity of 30,000, waving flags of Niger, Russia and Burkina Faso, noted AFP journalists.

“Today is the day of our true independence!” shouted a young man, the crowd around him shouting “Down with France, down with ECOWAS!”, the Economic Community of African States of the West, which threatened to intervene militarily.

CNSP members acclaimed

Members of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP, which took power) arrived triumphantly at the stadium in a convoy of pick-up vehicles, cheered and surrounded by a fevered crowd. General Mohamed Toumba, number three of the CNSP, spoke in front of the crowd to denounce those “who lurk in the shadows” and who “are plotting subversion” against “Niger’s forward march”. “We are aware of their Machiavellian plan,” he said. This show of force comes on the day of the expiration of the ultimatum set on July 30 by ECOWAS to the soldiers who took power to restore the ousted president Mohamed Bazoum to his duties, under penalty of using force to do so.

The ultimatum expires on Sunday evening and for the time being, the generals who took power on July 26 in Niamey have shown no desire to give way. The contours of the force for a possible military intervention were “defined” on Friday by the ECOWAS Chiefs of Staff and certain armies such as Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire said they were ready to participate. The coup was condemned by all of Niger’s Western and African partners, but the Nigerien military received support from their counterparts in Mali and Burkina Faso – who also came to power through putsches in 2020 and 2022 – who claim that an intervention in Niger would be a “declaration of war” on their two countries.

Concerns and criticisms

The prospect of a West African military intervention arouses concern and criticism. On Saturday, senators from Nigeria, a heavyweight in ECOWAS with its 215 million inhabitants and which shares a 1,500 km border with Niger, called on President Bola Tinubu to “strengthen the political and diplomatic option”. According to the Nigerian press, a majority of senators expressed their opposition to a military operation during a closed-door meeting.

Saturday evening Algeria, a major player in the Sahel which shares nearly 1,000 km of border with Niger, also expressed reservations. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said on public television that an intervention would be “a direct threat” to his country. “There will be no solution without us (Algeria)”, he added, fearing that “the whole Sahel (not) will ignite” in the event of intervention. In Niamey, the military for their part promised this week an “immediate response” to “any aggression”.

A winner, the jihadists

“We must prevent the catastrophic scenario of a war,” warned a group of researchers, specialists in the Sahel, in a column published Saturday evening in the French daily Liberation. “One more war in the Sahel will have only one winner: the jihadist movements which for years have been building their territorial expansion on the bankruptcy of states”, they write. Many residents of the capital Niamey – stronghold of the opposition to the ousted president – hoped Sunday not to have to live a military intervention. “If ECOWAS intervenes, it will make the situation even worse. But people are ready and the population will support the new leaders, because we want change,” says Jackou, a textile trader.

Several European countries have evacuated hundreds of their nationals in recent days to Niger. After France and Spain, Italy announced on Sunday the departure of 65 military personnel on board a plane which landed in Rome on Saturday evening. ECOWAS and Western countries are calling for a return to constitutional order and the release of President Bazoum, held prisoner since the July 26 coup. France notably indicated on Saturday that it supported “with firmness and determination” the efforts of ECOWAS, believing that it was at stake “for the future of Niger and the stability of the entire region”.

Relations between the military who took power and the former colonial power have deteriorated in recent days. The soldiers denounced military and security cooperation agreements with Paris, which deploys 1,500 soldiers in Niger for the fight against terrorism, a measure ignored by Paris.