Opinion by Mohamed Bazoum: “I write this as a hostage. This coup, launched against my government by a faction in the military on July 26, has no justification whatsoever. If it succeeds, it will have devastating consequences for our country and the world.”
Our government came to power through a democratic election in 2021. Any attempt to overthrow a lawful government must be opposed, and we appreciate the strong and unequivocal condemnations of this cynical effort to undermine the remarkable progress Niger has made under democracy. The United States, the African and European Unions, and the Economic Community of West African States have been loud and clear: This coup must end, and the junta must free everyone they have unlawfully arrested.
Notably, Niger’s security situation is significantly better than that of our neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso, whose governments, both installed by military takeovers,. Rather than addressing security concerns by strengthening their own capacity, they employ criminal Russian mercenaries such as the Wagner Group at the expense of their people’s rights and dignity.
We cannot afford to lose this momentum. Recognizing the threat that Niger’s potential fall poses to the region, our neighbors in ECOWAS have, including a ban on exports and imports of oil, and a suspension of cross-border financial transactions. With an open invitation from the coup plotters and their regional allies, the entire central Sahel region could fall to Russian influence via the Wagner Group, whose brutal terrorism has been on full display in Ukraine.
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