A west African regional political grouping has reiterated it is prepared to intervene militarily in Niger following last month’s coup, describing the country’s detained president, Mohamed Bazoum, as a hostage.
Ecowas’s commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, Abdel-Fatau Musah, made the comments as military chiefs of staff from the bloc met in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, on Thursday and accused Niger’s military junta of “playing cat and mouse” with the grouping by refusing to meet its envoys.
The meeting in Accra, which had originally been planned for last weekend, was called to discuss details of the standby military force authorised by Ecowas when a deadline to release Bazoum and restore democracy expired.
While Musah emphasised that armed intervention was a last resort should diplomatic efforts fail, he said a military operation remained on the table, amid scepticism over Ecowas’s willingness to intervene despite strong recent language.
“The military and the civilian forces of west Africa are ready to answer to the call of duty,” he told assembled heads of defence staff from member states meeting at the Camp Burma military base in Accra.
He listed past Ecowas deployments in the Gambia, Liberia and elsewhere as examples of readiness.
“If push comes to shove we are going into Niger with our own contingents and equipment and our own resources to make sure we restore constitutional order. If other democratic partners want to support us they are welcome,” he said.
Musah strongly criticised the junta’s announcement that it had evidence to put Bazoum on trial for treason. The UN, EU and Ecowas have all expressed concerns about the conditions of his detention.
“The irony of it is that somebody who is in a hostage situation himself … is being charged with treason. When did he commit high treason is everybody’s guess,” Musah said.
Musah added that all of the blocs’ members, except for those under military rule and Cape Verde, had agreed to provide troops.
Echoing Musah, Nigeria’s chief of defence staff, Gen Christopher Gwabin Musa, told the meeting: “Democracy is what we stand for and it’s what we encourage. The focus of our gathering is not simply to react to events, but to proactively chart a course that results in peace and promotes stability.”