Niger coup: DHQ directs service chiefs to compile war items, ECOWAS lawmakers divided
In compliance with the directives of the Economic Community of West African States, the Defence Headquarters has commenced build-up preparations for the possible mobilisation of troops and equipment for a possible confrontation with the junta in Niger Republic, findings by Sunday PUNCH have shown.
However, the ECOWAS Parliament is divided over the use of military might to force the junta, which overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, out of power and to reinstate the Nigerien President.
The Nigerian military high command, it was gathered, had directed the service chiefs to compile and submit war requirements such as the number of personnel, equipment, logistics and financial costs to the Chief of Defence Staff.
One of our correspondents gathered on Friday that this was the preliminary stage in the planning process of amassing human and material resources required for the planned military intervention in Niger.
A leaked memo indicated that about two battalions would be required to prosecute the war against the junta in Niger Republic.
A battalion is a military unit typically consisting of 300 to 1,000 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain).
But a military source said the total number of troops should be at least “10 times more than that of the enemy.”
Apart from Nigeria, Senegal, Benin and Ivory Coast, other ECOWAS member states are expected to commit troops to the standby force.
ECOWAS had on Thursday activated its standby force for military action against the junta in Niger Republic.
The decision was taken at an extraordinary summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of States and Government hosted by President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.
The summit was attended by top diplomats from the United Nations, African Union and the regional bloc.
The junta led by General Abdourahmane Tchiani had defiantly refused to yield to entreaties and diplomatic pressure to reinstate Bazoum, who has been in detention at his residence since the takeover on July 26.
Following the coup, the ECOWAS imposed a battery of sanctions on the francophone country to compel the military leaders to reinstate the ousted president.
But the coup plotters ignored a one-week ultimatum to restore democracy issued by ECOWAS and also refused to meet with a delegation led by former Nigerian military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, last week Thursday.
On Monday, the junta similarly denied the acting United States Deputy Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland, access to the coup leader and Bazoum.
Also, plans by a joint UN/AU/ECOWAS delegation to visit Niamey on Tuesday were aborted after the coup leaders said they were unavailable to meet with the mission.
On Tuesday, presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, announced that more sanctions had been imposed on the individuals and entities relating with the Niger military junta.
The new sanctions imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria will prevent Nigerien banks from carrying out financial transactions with their Nigerian counterparts.
The restriction also applied to the coup plotters and their collaborators.
In reaction to the planned military intervention authorised by the sub-regional body, the Niger military leaders threatened to kill Bazoum should the ECOWAS attempt any military operation to restore democracy in the francophone country.
Wase stated, “We should be careful not to start what we can’t finish. When the Russia-Ukraine war started, people thought it was to be a sharp war. A year after, the war lingers with the attendant economic squander and wanton destruction of lives and property.
“The sub-regional military chiefs know what they stand to benefit economically. That’s why they’re eager to militarily intervene in Niger. Most of them are corrupt.
“Any war on Niger will have adverse effects on 60 per cent of Nigeria, especially northern Nigeria.”
Corroborating Wase, a member of the Nigerian delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament, Ali Ndume, slammed President Tinubu for not seeking the approval of the National Assembly before closing the Nigerian-Niger border and cutting off electricity supply to the francophone nation.
Ndume said, “We are the representatives of the people. Whatever action that must be taken should be dependent on what our people want.
“The ECOWAS Chairman, President Tinubu, wrote to the Nigerian Senate on the planned military intervention in Niger and the Red Chamber vehemently opposed the use of force. Members instead prefer that dialogue should be adopted in resolving the impasse.
“President Tinubu has no right to close the Niger-Nigeria border and cut off electricity without the approval of the Nigerian National Assembly. It is not the juntas that are suffering the sanctions, but innocent people.”
Ali Djibo from Niger Republic said no fewer than 9,000 schools had been shut, adding that there was nowhere in the world where military action had turned out to be the best option.
Djibo explained, “War will only compound the economic woes the peoples of the sub-region are already going through.
“If a coup happens in Nigeria or Cote d’Ivoire tomorrow, where is ECOWAS going to mobilise troops to fight the Nigerian or Ivorian military? How many borders are we going to close?
“We must also bear in mind that if we’re applying the ECOWAS treaty, it should be applicable to all.”
However, some parliamentarians believed that dialogue and diplomacy had not been able to tame the spread of the scourge of military intervention in West Africa.
Linda Ikpeazu, who supported military intervention, noted that because there were no consequences in the past, especially in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, led to the Niger Republic situation.
Ikpeazu said the regional body had to act as it could not continue to encourage people to get away with wrongdoing.
Doctor sees Bazoum, family
President Bazoum was seen by his doctor, Saturday. It was learnt that the physician also brought food for the ousted leader, his wife and son, who are being held with him.
A member of his entourage told AFP, “The president had a visit by his doctor today.
“He’s fine, given the situation.”
Concerns have been raised over the health and detention conditions of Bazoum, his wife and 20-year-old son since the military seized power and took them captive on July 26.
The European Union and the African Union have joined others in sounding the alarm for Bazoum.
UN rights chief, Volker Turk, said Bazoum’s reported detention conditions “could amount to inhuman and degrading treatment, in violation of international human rights law.”
The protesters later dispersed at the busy Ibrahim Taiwo Road in the Kano metropolis.
When contacted for his reaction, the state police command spokesman, SP Abdullahi Haruna, promised to get back to one of our correspondents after contacting the Divisional Police Officer in the area for details, but he had yet to revert as of the time of filing this report.
Lawyers against war
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Mike Ozekhome, said Tinubu could not deploy Nigerian troops to Niger without the approval of the National Assembly.
He stated that before the President could declare war or use Nigerian troops for external engagement, he needed the full and express approval of the Senate.
Ozekhome stressed that it would be unconstitutional to do otherwise, adding that taking that course of action without Senate approval would be treated as a criminal offence.
He said in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, “Even ECOWAS as a sub-regional group cannot simply ignore the United States charter to deploy troops. It is nothing short of a war of aggression that can lead to the death and destruction of people, which is like genocide.
“This will attract other superpowers. Nigeria should not involve our troops. We don’t deserve this calamity that is about to befall us if we invade Niger. There is a boundary connection, cultural bond and trade agreements between Niger and Nigeria.”
Another senior lawyer, Mr Ahmed Raji (SAN), said he did not think Tinubu had said the country was going to war.
“What the President said was that dialogue continues,” Raji said in an interview with Sunday PUNCH.
He added that ECOWAS as a body had said that there should be a standby military force against the junta.
Raji stated, “The hope of everybody is that the negotiations will work and the matter will be resolved. I do not think Tinubu has said he is going to deploy the Nigerian military without the approval of the Senate. He has not said so.
“He had sent emissaries there. He received in audience various peacemakers, who have called for dialogue and for them to step in to see what they can do to achieve peace.
“His taking a request to the National Assembly is a demonstration that he does not want to act contrary to what the Nigerian law says. For that, he has to be commended.” Punch
