Tensions escalate between Niger, West African neighbors

West African nations have put their troops on standby for a possible military intervention in Niger, where a military junta leader has refused to stand down after kidnapping the president and seizing power undemocratically.

The 15-nation member bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met on Thursday and released a statement that strongly condemns the detention of Niger President Mohamed Bazoum.

While the final order activates troops that could be ready for an intervention within weeks, ECOWAS maintains it still seeks a peaceful solution to the crisis.

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said his country will take part in an operation along with Nigeria and Benin.

Ouattara told reporters the Niger coup was a “terrorist act” and negotiations with military leaders have so far failed.

“We cannot let this continue, we have to act,” Ouattara said. “We will not accept coup d’etats.”

Any military action could be dangerous for Bazoum. Military junta leader Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani has threatened to kill the abducted president if neighboring countries invade Niger.

Tchiani has refused diplomatic negotiations from the West, including officials from the State Department, and entrenched himself in power this week by appointing his own officials to lead the government.

The situation in Niger has quickly spiraled out of control since the coup in late July displaced Bazoum in the capital of Niamey. ECOWAS imposed a deadline on Sunday to release Bazoum, which the military junta ignored. Leaders instead closed all flights in and out of the country.

Tchiani has justified the overthrow by citing an economic crisis and soaring violence in the West African nation.

Some in Niger have supported the coup because of concerns about corruption during Bazoum’s administration, along with a compounding economic insecurity and violence crisis.

Two West African nations have also supported Niger’s military leaders, Burkina Faso and Mali. Their governments are military-led and suspended from ECOWAS membership. It’s unclear how both nations might respond to military intervention in Niger.

The African Union on Friday supported the ECOWAS activation of troops.

In a statement, African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat expressed “deep concern about the deterioration of the conditions of detention of President Mohamed Bazoum.”

“The Chairman of the Commission calls on the whole of the international community to unite all its concrete efforts to save the life and the moral and physical integrity of President Mohamed Bazoum,” he said.