Niger junta closes airspace as it refuses to reinstate President

Niamey, The Gulf Observer: Niger’s military rulers have announced that they had closed the country’s airspace, warning that any attempt to violate it would meet with an “energetic and immediate response”.

“Faced with the threat of intervention, which is becoming clearer through the preparation of neighbouring countries, Niger’s airspace is closed from this day on Sunday… for all aircraft until further notice,” they said in a statement.

Thousands of coup supporters in Niger gathered for a rally to cheer on the generals claiming power, as a deadline set by the west African bloc for the military to relinquish control or face possible armed intervention has passed.

The ECOWAS bloc, chaired by regional military powerhouse and Niger’s neighbour Nigeria, had given the troops that toppled President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 a week to return him to power.

But Sunday afternoon in the capital Niamey, thousands of backers of the now-ruling National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) gathered at a stadium draped in Russian flags and carrying portraits of CNSP leaders.

At 30,000-seat Seyni Kountche stadium, named after Niger’s first coup d’etat leader in 1974, CNSP leaders including General Mohamed Toumba greeted a jubilant crowd, while showing no sign of willingness to cede power.

ECOWAS military chiefs of staff agreed Friday on a plan for a possible intervention to respond to the crisis, the latest of several coups to hit Africa’s Sahel region since 2020.

“We want diplomacy to work, and we want this message clearly transmitted to them (the military) that we are giving them every opportunity to reverse what they have done,” ECOWAS commissioner Abdel-Fatau Musah said.

But he warned that “all the elements that will go into any eventual intervention have been worked out”, including how and when force would be deployed.

Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara reiterated the call for the coup leaders to stand down late Sunday on the eve of his own country’s Independence Day.

“We condemn the attempted coup in Niger, which poses a serious threat to peace and security in the sub-region,” Ouattara said, adding it was “essential” to “constitutional order” that democratically elected Bazoum be allowed to govern.

Niger’s military leaders have said they will meet force with force.