By Prosper Eno, Reporter

MILITARY rulers in Mali and Burkina Faso have openly expressed their support for the coup makers in Niger Republic.

This is in open defiance of ECOWAS, the Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led regional economic bloc.

It would be recalled that after their extraordinary meeting in Abuja on Sunday, 30th July 2023, ECOWAS leaders imposed a series of sanctions on Niger and gave the Brig.-Gen Abdourahamane Tchiani-led coup makers a seven-day ultimatum to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum and restore constitutional order in the country or face possible “use of (military) force.”

For Nigeria and other countries in West Africa, the significance of the development can be seen from the fact that
although Niger, Nigeria’s neighbor, is a strategic ally of the West: the United Nations, European Union, France, and U.S. which have military bases in Niger, it is instructive that Mali and Burkina Faso, former French colonies, recently side stepped Paris and turned to Russia for military support to fight terrorist and Islamic insurgency.

With Russia already stating diplomatically that it is against military option, Nigeria and other West African countries can easily predict the likely complication that may arise from a Nigerian-led West African military attack against Niger on account of the military take over.

It also important to note particularly that in their joint statement on Monday, Mali and Burkina Faso military governments made no reference to the African Union, which first gave Niger altimatum but specifically denounced the position taken against Niger by ECOWAS and the West African Economic and Monetary Union, with the French acronym UEMOA.

The two military governments said they would not respect the “illegal, illegitimate and inhuman sanctions” announced by ECOWAS and UEOMA against Niger.

They also warned that any military intervention against Niger would “amount to a declaration of war against Mali and Burkina Faso” and could result in both countries’ withdrawal from ECOWAS, and their “declaration of self-defence measures in support of the armed forces and people of Niger.”

Photo Credit: The Alkamba Times