Military build up against Niger Junta underway as Senegal, Benin, Cote D’ivoire Nigeria commit troops 

 

 

Cote D’ivoire, a strong ally of France, has committed a battalion (roughly 800 to 1,000 soldiers) to join the standby forces of ECOWAS in routing out the military junta of Niger. 

 

Senegal, Benin Republic and the arrow head, Nigeria, haven’t exactly stated their level of commitment but said they are all in for  the use of military force to remove the military rulers of Niger. 

 

The African Union has already declared its support for the ECOWAS push to restore constitutional authority in the French-speaking West African country.

 

This is despite large-scale resistance against the move to invasion by many Nigerians whose voices were amplified through a resolution of the Senate. The Senate categorically rejected any form of military intervention in Niger. 

 

But the build up for a full scale military invasion of Niger, a country with only about  10,000 active combat military men, is already in motion. ECOWAS army chiefs will be meeting in the coming days to prepare an invasion plan in Ghana next week Saturday.

 

“One meeting is being planned for next week,” Reuters quoted the ECOWAS spokesperson to have said.

 

There are other West African countries that either will be on the fence, or stake it out with Niger in the planned invasion. 

 

Gambia and Liberia are reluctant in joining ECOWAS forces against Niger. 

 

Gambia defence minister, Sering Modou Njie and Liberia’s minister of information, Ledgerhood Rennie, said that they had not yet taken a decision to send troops. In diplomacy, this is akin to saying: “we are not involve.”

 

But Mali and Burkina Faso say their military will be on standby to lend support for Niger in the event of an invasion. 

 

On Friday, Burkina Faso’s junta-led government suspended one of the country’s most popular radio stations after it broadcast an interview deemed “insulting” to Niger’s new military leaders.

 

While some West African leaders are debating how to invade Niger, Russia has warned that military action against the coup leaders would lead to a “protracted confrontation.”

 

In a statement issued on Friday, Russia’s foreign ministry warned other West African countries not to send troops into Niger.

 

It stated, “We believe that a military solution to the crisis in Niger could lead to a protracted confrontation in that African country, and to a sharp destabilization of the situation in the Sahara-Sahel region as a whole.”