Niger has been engulfed in political chaos since late last month, when President Mohamed Bazoum was ousted in a coup d’etat by the presidential guard. “They will start preparing, mobilizing and putting in place everything they need to deploy to Niger as soon as possible,” he said.īefore the coup, Niger’s defense ministry said its army was 25,000-strong. Following the ECOWAS announcement, Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said his country would provide between 850 and 1,100 troops “as soon as possible” to supplement the standby force.
Nor is it clear the size of the force involved. The statement also emphasized a “determination to keep all options on the table for the peaceful resolution of the crisis.” It was not immediately clear what the “deployment” and “activation” of the force would entail. Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, after the expiration of the one-week ultimatum they gave to Niger’s military junta, leaders from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) called for a deployment “to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger,” according to a statement read by Omar Alieu Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission. West African leaders on Thursday ramped up the rhetoric against Niger’s coup leaders, ordering the “activation” and the “deployment” of a regional standby force to restore constitutional order in the coup-hit country.
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