Lagos (EFE) crisis in Niger after the coup d’état on July 26 that overthrew the Nigerian president, Mohamed Bazoum.
Musah assured that ECOWAS “will hold Russia diplomatically responsible” for “any action by these private security groups that violates human rights or causes devastation” in the region.
“Private security companies were involved in Sierra Leone, (…) in Liberia during those wars, long ago. And also recently, in global conflicts. The United States used them in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the commissioner said in statements to a Nigerian television station.
“These groups are not acceptable in Africa, even though they are here, and we are going to hold their countries of origin responsible for any violations,” he concluded.
The US does not believe that Russia is behind the coup
This week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the BBC that the Wagner group is “taking advantage” of the instability in Niger, although he did not believe Russia was behind the recent coup.
Blinken made the remarks after speculation that the coup leaders received help from Russian mercenaries, with a presence in neighboring Mali.
“I think that what happened, and what continues to happen in Niger, was not instigated by Russia or by Wagner, but they tried to take advantage of it. Every place this Wagner group has gone has been followed by death, destruction and exploitation,” Blinken said.
Russia, for its part, has denied its participation in the coup and has advocated a resolution through “constitutional channels”, while Wagner’s boss, Yevgueni Prigozhin, supported the military coup, although he did not allude to his possible role in the coup plot. .
Wagner mercenaries in the Central African Republic and Mali
Wagner is estimated to have thousands of fighters in countries including the Central African Republic and Mali, where he has lucrative business interests but also bolsters Russia’s diplomatic and economic relations.
The group’s mercenaries have accusations of human rights abuses in several African countries.
Rumors about a possible involvement of Moscow in the Niger coup increased after protesters organized in several Niger regional capitals in favor of the coup leaders chanted slogans calling for the French military withdrawal from the country and a rapprochement with Russia.
The coup in Niger was led on July 26 by the self-styled National Council for the Safeguarding of the Fatherland (CNSP), which announced the dismissal of President Bazoum and the suspension of the Constitution.
Niger thus became the fourth West African country led by a military junta, after Mali, Guinea-Conakry and Burkina Faso, where coups d’état were also perpetrated between 2020 and 2022.
The AU Peace and Security Council will address the situation in Niger after the coup
The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU) will meet this Monday in Ethiopia, the headquarters of the organization, to address the situation in Niger, after the coup d’état perpetrated by the military in the country on July 26, Diplomatic sources confirmed this Saturday to EFE.
“There will be a serious debate at the meeting on Monday,” a diplomat who wanted to remain anonymous told EFE this Saturday in Addis Ababa.
During the session, this body is expected to hear a statement from the envoy of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as well as the permanent representative of Niger to the AU.
The meeting, the second held by the Peace and Security Council on the Niger crisis, will take place after the heads of State and Government of ECOWAS ordered this Thursday to “activate” the bloc’s “reserve force” for a possible military intervention aimed at “reestablishing the constitutional order” in that country.
A new Nigerian delegation travels to Niger to negotiate with the military coup junta
A new delegation from the Republic of Nigeria, made up of religious leaders, arrived at noon this Saturday in Niamey, the capital of Niger, to mediate between the ruling military coup junta and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). .
The delegation, led by Sheikh Abdulahi Bala Lau, was received at the Niamey international airport by the new prime minister appointed this week by the coup leaders, Mahamane Lamine Zeine, the ANP news agency reported.
Zeine was accompanied by members of the coup junta, calling itself the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Nation (CNSP), and members of the Islamic association of Niger, explained the same source, adding that the two parties exchanged in the airport’s honor hall. .
This Nigerian delegation arrived in Niamey after having met earlier this week in Abuja (Nigeria) with the Nigerian president and current head of ECOWAS, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, indicated the same source.
This is the second delegation to arrive in Niger after another with traditional religious authorities from Nigeria and Niger who met last Wednesday with the coup leader, General Abdurahamane Tiani.
