In a show of support for the military junta in Niger, crowds, filled the 35,000 capacity Seyni Kountché stadium in Niamey, Niger to show their support for the military coup, ahead of the deadline issued by the regional body, ECOWAS, for the junta to step down.
ECOWAS threatened military action if ousted President Mohamed Bazoum was not reinstated although that action has been rejected by the Senate in the regional body’s most powerful member, Nigeria. Other countries, including Algeria, have also voiced their concerns about the implications of any military action on their territory.
Reports emerging from Niger also claim that the Russian private military organ, Wagner, has already sent some troops into the country as part of an agreement reached with the junta to protect the capital from foreign intervention.
Although there seems to be popular support for the coup plotters and their stance against the ousted government and its Western allies, there are no polls to determine the extent of this support, and some observers believe that there may be considerable but silent opposition to the junta across the country.
The latest demand by the junta for France to vacate the country in 30 days, in accordance with the 1977 Agreement of Technical Military Cooperation, may have inspired mass support but it is still unclear if France will honour the directive and what steps the regime would take if France refuses to leave.
