What Is Happening in Niger? What to Know About the Coup

Officers from Niger’s elite presidential guard last week detained the West African country’s elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, and declared themselves the nation’s new leaders. The coup came as a shock to U.S. and European governments that have worked closely with Bazoum and Niger’s military in the fight against Islamist militants in Africa’s Sahel region.

Some of Niger’s West African neighbors, mostly aligned with the U.S. and Europe, have threatened to use force to reinstate Bazoum. Others, allied with Russia, have said they would defend Niger’s new military junta.

Why are the U.S. and the European governments worried about the coup in Niger?

Niger has been at the center of the U.S. and Europe’s battle against al Qaeda and Islamic State militants, who in recent years have killed thousands of people in the Sahel, the semiarid region south of the Sahara. Niger became more important after military-led governments in Mali and Burkina Faso kicked out French and other Western troops who had been fighting Islamist insurgents there. The U.S. has spent about $500 million arming Niger’s military, with everything from tents and radios to surveillance planes and armored personnel carriers. The U.S. has some 1,100 soldiers stationed in Niger who have trained local special forces and advised them on missions. France has roughly 1,500 troops in Niger. 

The European Union has also depended on Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries, to stop African migrants from crossing into Libya and from there into the EU. 

What is Ecowas and could it reverse the coup?

The Economic Community of West African States is a political and economic grouping of 15 West African states, including regional heavyweights such as Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal. On Sunday, Ecowas leaders at an emergency summit gave Niger’s new military junta a seven-day deadline to free Bazoum and return him to the presidency. After that, the group’s leaders threatened to launch a military intervention in Niger to reinstate Bazoum. They also imposed a series of tough financial and trade sanctions against Niger in the hope of pressuring the junta to back down. Those sanctions include freezing Niger’s assets at the regional central bank and cutting off electricity flows from Nigeria. Niger buys about 70% of its electricity from Nigeria.

In response, Mali and Burkina Faso, whose coups d’état have also been denounced by Ecowas, warned that they would see an armed intervention in Niger as a declaration of war and that they would come to the defense of the junta in Niamey.

How is the U.S. responding?

President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have called for Bazoum to be freed and for Niger’s democracy to be protected. However, U.S. officials have been careful to not refer to the military’s actions as a coup, a designation that would trigger restrictions to military aid under U.S. law.  The Defense Department said it has no plans to move military personnel or equipment out of Niger and supports a diplomatic solution to the situation.

The Biden administration hasn’t said whether the U.S. would provide logistics or other support for a potential Ecowas military intervention in Niger. “We support the efforts of Ecowas, including the pressure,” Blinken said Thursday. The State Department has ordered the evacuation of all nonessential personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Niamey, along with family members of American embassy staff. 

In contrast to France, the U.S. hasn’t launched a full evacuation of American nationals from Niger. France, which sent several evacuation flights to Niger this week, said it helped about 40 U.S. citizens leave the country.

What is Russia’s position on the Niger coup?

The Russian government has called for a return to the constitutional order in Niger and warned against an armed intervention. Yevgeny Prigozhin,

France’s foreign minister this week blamed Russian disinformation for the pro-coup protests that targeted its embassy over the weekend. 

Who is General Omar Tchiani?

Gen. Omar Tchiani, also sometimes called Abdourahamane, was the head of the presidential guard that launched the uprising against Bazoum. He now leads the military junta as Niger’s self-declared leader. Bazoum had been weighing whether to dismiss Tchiani, which was one of the triggers for the coup, according to people familiar with the situation in Niger.

—William Mauldin contributed to this article.

Write to Gabriele Steinhauser at [email protected]