• Bloc fails to secure Bazoum’s release
Niger has not reopened its border with Benin two days after the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) lifted coup-linked sanctions on the landlocked nation, local officials confirmed yesterday.
The bloc, at the weekend, lifted sanctions imposed on the country after the July 26, 2023 military coup, including a no-fly zone, border closures and asset freezes.
“There has still been no change on the Niger side: so far, the border hasn’t been opened, so we’re still waiting,” local journalist Fhadel Alou told AFP at the border town of Gaya.
“The border has reopened on the Benin side,” he added.
Two Nigerien officials confirmed that the border with Benin “remained closed.”
MEANWHILE, the junta continues to detain ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
His release was not a precondition for lifting of the sanctions, a senior West African diplomat, who attended the talks stated.
The failure to secure Bazoum’s immediate release in return for the lifting of sanctions this weekend, he noted “is a sign of the weakness of ECOWAS, which had originally threatened to invade Niger if the junta did not reverse last July’s coup.”
The body applied tough sanctions on Niger after Bazoum was deposed in a putsch led by the head of his presidential guard, General Omar Tchiani, who now serves as President of the ruling National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland.
An ECOWAS spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the details of the sanctions deal, but the diplomat said talks with the junta on a binding agreement to release Bazoum were ongoing.
The sanctions were lifted after a meeting of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government in Abuja, in a deal brokered by Togo.
Many regional analysts expected any sanction relief to be dependent on Bazoum being granted his freedom. The former President has been under house arrest since the coup. His son was released last month, and is living in Lome, the Togolese capital.
The envoy continued: “We lifted those sanctions because we cannot destroy ECOWAS. ECOWAS is one big family, and we must do everything to keep it going regardless of the disagreements we have with one another.”
The group is seeking to dissuade the three junta-controlled countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger from leaving the bloc after they threatened a joint withdrawal last month.
