Niger’s military junta has threatened to kill deposed President Mohamed Bazoum if neighboring countries intervene militarily to restore his power.
According to the Daily Mail, two Western diplomats revealed this to a top US ambassador.
Earlier on Thursday, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) directed that its standby force be activated immediately.
Omar Alieu Touray, President of ECOWAS, issued the order while reading the decision passed at the extraordinary meeting on the Niger coup in Abuja on Thursday.
The leaders convened in Abuja to deliberate their next course of action after the junta’s seven-day ultimatum for the reinstatement of President Bazoum expired without cooperation from the junta.
The regional bloc stated at its summit that coup leaders have rejected all attempts at engagement with the Niger junta.
The ECOWAS leaders also decried President Mohamed Bazoum and his family’s continued incarceration.
A Western military officer told the Daily Mail that junta representatives informed US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland of the danger against Bazoum during her visit to the nation this week.
According to the Associated Press, a US official verified that account, also speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Bazoum was deposed on July 26 and replaced with Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, Niger’s top economist and African Development Bank official.
Source: DAILY TRUST NEWS
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