By: Seringe ST Touray
Uncertainty continues to reign as Abdourahmane Tchiani, leader of the military coup in Niger, remains steadfast in defiance of pressures from surrounding West African states and from some other parts of the world, to bring an end to his insurrection, and to release and reinstate the country’s ousted President.
In accordance with this morning’s latest updates from France 24, the junta announced the appointments of twenty-one ministers “on national television on Wednesday night.” The statements by the military group tread on the heels of Tchiani’s desperate push to solidify his stance as leader of a new government since he staged his military coup to put an end to what he called “deteriorating security and economic hardship” which inundated Niger and thrust its people into difficult livelihoods.
Following Tchiani’s drastic yet momentous move to appoint a new cabinet, the ECOWAS has begun an emergency summit today on the concerning developments in Niger. The closed door meeting, held in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, hosts more than twenty government ministers, including defense and interior ministers, to engage in talks on the way forward. Since the junta’s dismissal of calls for it to step down, many are devoid of knowledge about any immediate strategy to undo the government overthrow.
In addition to defying calls to reinstate Niger’s deposed Mohamed Bazoum, the junta has further refused calls to release Bazoum from detainment – a move dubbed “deplorable” by the United Nations chief on Wednesday only moments prior to the junta’s announcement of its new cabinet appointments.
