NIAMEY: Niger’s capital was calm on Sunday, with citizens appearing undaunted by the threat of military intervention by West Africa’s regional bloc, as its ultimatum for the country’s coup leaders to reinstate the president expires.

On Niamey’s streets there were sporadic displays of support for but no signs of opposition to the junta, which has said it will not cave in to external pressure to stand down following the July 26 power grab.

The seventh coup in West and Central Africa in three years has rocked the western Sahel region, one of the poorest in the world and which has strategic significance for Russia, China and the West partly due to Niger’s rich uranium and oil deposits.

Thousands of supporters of the military coup in Niger gathered at a Niamey stadium. Earlier, over 100 people, blasting military tunes and tooting vuvuzela horns, set up a picket near an air base in Niamey and pledged to offer non-violent resistance in support of the new army-led administration if needed.

Thousands of coup supporters gather at Niamey stadium

A delegation of members of the now-ruling National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) arrived at the 30,000-seat stadium to cheers from supporters, many of whom carried Russian flags and portraits of CNSP leaders.

The stadium, named after Seyni Kountche, who led Niger’s first coup d’etat in 1974, was almost full and the atmosphere was festive, AFP journalists saw.

General Mohamed Toumba, one of the CNSP leaders, denounced in a speech those “lurking in the shadows” who were “plotting subversion” against “the forward march of Niger”.

“We are aware of their Machiavellian plan,” he said.

The demonstration coincides with the ultimatum set by Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for the coup leaders to reinstate Bazoum. But so far, the generals who seized power in Niamey on July 26 have shown no sign of willingness to give way.

The coup has been condemned by the United States and France, though Niger’s military received support from their counterparts in Mali and Burkina Faso.

ECOWAS military chiefs had recently agreed to a plan for a military intervention, including when and where to strike, if the detained president Mohamed Bazoum was not reinstated by August 6. ECOWAS did not respond to a request for comment on what its next steps would be, or when exactly on Sunday its deadline expires. A spokesman said it would issue a statement at the end of the day.

Sunday’s television broadcasts included a roundtable debate on spurring solidarity in the face of looming ECOWAS sanctions, which have led to power cuts and soaring food prices. The bloc’s military pledge has triggered fears of further conflict in a region already battling a deadly Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands and forced millions to flee.

On the picket line, where organisers led chants of ‘Vive Niger’, much of the emotion appeared directed against ECOWAS as well as former colonial power France.

“The Nigerien people have understood that these imperialists want to bring about our demise. And God willing, they will be the ones to suffer for it,” said pensioner Amadou Adamou.

“I am not worried because I know that any military intervention by ECOWAS in Niger would be a loss for this organisation. It is not in the interest of its leaders,” 59-year-old housewife Hadjo Hadjia.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2023