West African countries have imposed sanctions on Niger’s new military leaders, threatening to use force if they fail to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum within a week, after the latest coup in the Sahel region raised alarm on the continent.
In the third coup in as many years to topple a leader in the Sahel, Niger’s elected president and Western ally, Bazoum, has been held by the military since Wednesday.
General Abdourahmane Tiani, the head of the powerful presidential guard, has declared himself leader.
Bazoum is one of a dwindling group of elected presidents and pro-Western leaders in the Sahel, where since 2020 an armed uprising has triggered coups in Mali and Burkina Faso.
Former colonial ruler France and the European Union have suspended security cooperation and financial aid to Niger following the coup, while the United States warned that its aid could also be at stake.
At an emergency summit in Nigeria, the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc demanded on Sunday that Bazoum be reinstated within a week.
Source from www.aljazeera.com