The pro-coup group M62, which includes a dozen NGOs, called for a demonstration at the Seyni Kountche Stadium, the main stadium in the African country located in a densely populated area, Efe points out.
Large quantities of T-shirts bearing the photo of coup leader General Abdourahamane Tiani were distributed free of charge to citizens by civil society activists on Saturday.
Tiani and some members of the executive committee, which calls itself the National Council for the Protection of the Fatherland (CNSP), are expected to attend tomorrow’s demonstration.
On Sunday August 6, ECOWAS – a regional bloc of 15 West African countries – presented the military, which carried out a coup d’état on July 26, with an ultimatum to restore constitutional order in Niger, without ruling out the use of force.
The coup junta warned ECOWAS last Thursday that the Nigerian army would respond to any military action against Niger “immediately and without notice”.
He also called on the population to be “vigilant” against “spies and foreign forces” and urged them to forward “any information regarding the entry or movement of suspicious persons” to the nearest authorities.
Since that call, several groups of young people have created “citizen surveillance devices” which have been deployed at Niamey’s main axes and access points from midnight to control the various movements from that hour.
Activist Gamatie Yansambou explained that these are young civilians who are being assisted by armed soldiers in plain clothes “to prevent any surprise”. The activist added that these devices came about after the panel’s appointment.
The governments of Nigeria, Benin, Ivory Coast and Senegal have confirmed the availability of their armies for eventual military intervention in Niger.
rejection of the military option
At the other extreme, countries ruled by military juntas, Mali and Burkina Faso, oppose the use of force, claiming that any intervention in Niger would amount to a declaration of war against them. Algeria, Chad and Guinea-Conakry also reject the military option.
An ECOWAS delegation led by former Nigerian President Abdusalami Abubakar spoke with some members of the coup junta at Niamey airport last Thursday — a mission that failed to convince the military.
Sources close to the junta said coup leader Tiani had refused to meet with ECOWAS envoys given the regional bloc’s “radical position” and criticized the fact that the latter had “previously” imposed tough trade and financial sanctions on the African country Land decreed the sending of the emissaries”.
On the other hand, a delegation of the Nigerian military coup junta – led by General Salifou Mody (former Niger Chief of Staff) – traveled to Mali and later to Burkina Faso last Wednesday to study with both countries the implementation of the mechanisms of a common strategy to counter terrorism and against a possible military intervention by ECOWAS.
A source from the Nigerian junta presidency denied that Mody’s trip to Bamako and Ouagadougou was to contact the Wagner mercenary group stationed in those two countries, as some French media had advanced.
With information from Efe
