West African defence chiefs have drawn up a plan for military action if Niger’s coup is not overturned “immediately”, after mediation failed in a crisis that threatens regional security and has drawn in global powers.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has given Niger’s coup leaders until Sunday to step down and reinstate elected President Mohamed Bazoum.

The bloc has taken a hard stance on last week’s takeover, the seventh coup in West and Central Africa since 2020.

Given its uranium and oil riches and pivotal role in the war with Islamist rebels in the Sahel region, Niger has strategic significance for the United States, China, Europe and Russia.

The US government has paused foreign assistance programs that benefit the government of Niger but will continue giving humanitarian and food assistance, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.

Under the intervention plan, heads of states will decide when and where to strike and will not alert the coup plotters, ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs, peace and security Abdel-Fatau Musah said.

“All the elements that will go into any eventual intervention have been worked out here, including the resources needed, the how and when we are going to deploy the force,” he said at the close of a three-day meeting in Nigeria’s capital Abuja.

Thriving on chaos

Whatever option the 15-nation body chooses risks further conflict in one of the poorest regions of the world where groups linked to Islamic State and al Qaeda thrive on chaos.

It is not clear how much support the bloc has.

Neighbouring Chad, which is not a part of ECOWAS but whose military leader, President Mahamat Idriss Deby, played a role in mediation efforts this week, said it would not intervene militarily.

ECOWAS has already imposed sanctions on Niger and sent a delegation to its capital Niamey on Thursday seeking an “amicable resolution” but a source in the entourage said they were rebuffed and did not stay long.

“We want diplomacy to work, and we want this message clearly transmitted to them that we are giving them every opportunity to reverse what they have done,” Musah said.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu told his government to prepare for options including deployment of military personnel in a letter read out to the Senate on Friday.

Senegal has also said it would send troops.

The junta has denounced outside interference and said it would fight back.

Coup leader Abdourahamane Tiani, 59, served as battalion commander for ECOWAS forces during conflicts in Ivory Coast in 2003, so he knows what such intervention missions involve.

Support for him from fellow juntas in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso could also undermine the regional response.

‘Devastating consequences’

Both countries have said they would come to Niger’s defence.

Detained at the presidential residence in Niamey, Bazoum, 63, who was elected in 2021, said in his first remarks since the coup that he was a hostage and in need of US and international help.

“If it (the coup) succeeds, it will have devastating consequences for our country, our region and the entire world,” he wrote in a Washington Post opinion piece, backing ECOWAS’ economic and travel sanctions.

The junta has cited persistent insecurity as its main justification for seizing power but data on attacks shows security had actually been improving, while violence has soared since juntas took control in Mali and Burkina Faso.

Western donors have cut support to Niger in protest, even though the country relies on aid for 40 per cent of its budget.

-AAP