NIAMEY (Dispatches) – A delegation from the West African bloc ECOWAS arrived in Niger on Saturday for talks with the military officers who seized power in a July 26 coup.
The plane carrying the delegation arrived in Niamey a day after the bloc’s military chiefs said they were ready to intervene to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
Niger’s governing military council confirmed the arrival of the ECOWAS representatives, headed by former Nigerian leader Abdulsalami Abubakar.
Sources close to ECOWAS and Bazoum said the delegation should seek diplomatic mediation with the junta leaders who have taken power in Niger.
A previous ECOWAS delegation led by Abubakar earlier this month tried and failed to meet Bazoum and the coup leader, General Abdourahamane Tiani.
A source close to the latest delegation said it would send “a message of firmness” to the army officers and meet Bazoum.
ECOWAS had earlier threatened that a task force was ready to be deployed in Niger; adding that a “peaceful solution” would continue to be sought.
The defense chiefs of the 15-member said on Friday that they are ready to act whenever an order is given.
“We are ready to go anytime the order is given,” ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Abdel-Fatau Musah said during the closing ceremony. “The D-Day is also decided, which we are not going to disclose.”
Nigeria’s leading Islamic scholar Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky has warned that the U.S. and France intend to stoke sedition in African countries following the recent coup in Niger.
“It is clear that this is not our war; it is a war [waged by] America and France,” said the prominent Shia scholar on Saturday while addressing Islamic Seminary students in Abuja, further insisting that Washington and Paris may attempt to spark a crisis between Nigeria and Niger.
The Nigerian cleric went on to point out that although Niger has closed its airspace, French aircrafts still pass through, noting that they also maintain “terrorist” camps across the country that are the source of attacks waged by the Boko Haram Daesh-linked terrorists.
“That’s where they come from, to launch attacks and ferret away mineral resources (gold) to be subsequently shared among them (the stakeholders),” he further emphasized.
Zakzaky also expressed concerns about the potential employment of such terrorists to wage assaults against Abuja and make it look like Niamey is responsible and vice versa.
“Therefore, any military action on the borders of the two countries, be assured that it is the handiwork of France and America, not Nigeria, and not Niger,” he underlined.
The Muslim leader further insisted that the two colonialist powers could trigger a ‘tribal’ conflict within Niger, just like they have already done in Sudan, among various ethnic groups there.