Niger military coup: ECOWAS leaders meet for second day over possible intervention
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00:00 West African defense chiefs are meeting for a second day in Ghana to discuss possible military action in Niger.
00:06 The regional bloc known as ECOWAS is running out of options as the military regime in Niger that overthrew
00:12 President Mohamed Bazoum three weeks ago has ignored previous deadlines to reinstate him.
00:18 In the meantime, Niger's humanitarian crisis is growing worse.
00:22 Already one of the poorest countries in the world, aid groups say that ECOWAS sanctions are making it
00:27 hard for them to get food and supplies into the country.
00:31 Here's Nigeria's defense chief speaking earlier.
00:55 And for more on this story, I'm joined by our international affairs editor, Philip Turrell.
00:59 So, Philip, this is the second day of these talks between these military chiefs.
01:03 Is there any sign that progress is being made toward any kind of decision?
01:07 Well, I think that they would like to give the impression that there is some progress being made,
01:12 certainly towards the drawing up of this military force to intervene in Niger to
01:19 put Mohamed Bazoum back in charge of the country and to restore democracy.
01:24 What we've been seeing over the past 24 hours is that yesterday there were discussions over
01:31 the drawing up of this force and the members taking part in it.
01:35 There are now five who've agreed to commit forces to the intervention force.
01:41 There are Nigeria, Senegal, CĂ´te d'Ivoire, Benin and Guinea-Bissau.
01:45 Guinea-Bissau is coming on board saying it's ready to provide at least 500 soldiers.
01:50 We know that CĂ´te d'Ivoire is ready to commit about a thousand soldiers.
01:53 But it's still a bit short of the actual number needed to be able to counter
01:57 the forces within Niger itself if they decide to react to try to
02:01 prevent the restoration of democracy on the orders of the junta.
02:07 It all depends on how this military operation is going to take place.
02:12 But what the defence chiefs are saying basically is that the planification period is over.
02:17 This reunion today, this second day, is being used to discuss the different engagements.
02:23 What we're not expecting at the end of the day is a statement from ECOWAS saying
02:27 this has been decided and this is when the military intervention is going to take place.
02:32 I think that that is going to be kept under wraps because they obviously want to keep
02:36 an element of surprise in store for the military leaders in Niger.
02:42 That said, I think that still the bottom line here is that the way forward is by
02:49 negotiation and by diplomacy.
02:51 They really don't want to use this military force unless they absolutely have to,
02:55 because there's always the risk that it could go wrong.
02:58 It could spiral out of control, could cause regional conflict.
03:03 And what happens if ECOWAS does intervene and it doesn't manage to
03:06 put Mohamed Bazoum back into power and it's the coup leaders who manage to push back
03:11 this military intervention?
03:13 All of those are questions, of course, that no one can answer right now.
03:15 So if diplomacy does work, and I think that's what everyone is sort of hoping for,
03:20 if there's some kind of negotiated settlement, what might that look like?
03:24 Well, that is very difficult to see right now because there's been no movement from
03:29 the junta.
03:30 And although they met with religious leaders last week saying they're open to negotiations,
03:34 and a few hours later we heard that they were going to try the ousted president for high
03:40 treason, which has been seen by ECOWAS as a provocation.
03:45 There are increasing calls for the situation to be resolved and worry about what's going on
03:51 in Niger.
03:53 We've had several reactions today.
03:54 One from the deputy general secretary of Niger's party for democracy and socialism.
03:59 His name is Baboukar Sabo, who says victory for Niger's coup leaders would be the end of
04:04 democracy in Africa.
04:05 We've also had a reaction from the United Nations saying the very notion of freedom in Niger is
04:10 at stake.
04:11 And another reaction from the former president of Niger, Mamadou Issouthou, who said that
04:16 he was upset by accusations that he was behind the coup, saying, no, I want Mohammed Bazoum
04:24 to be restored to power.
04:25 So pressure is growing, but still no real outcome on how they're going to deal with
04:31 the junta.
04:32 OK.
04:32 To be continued, our international affairs editor, Philip Terrell.
04:36 Philip, thanks as always.