The ECOWAS ultimatum to the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP), name of the provisional government installed after the coup d’état staged on July 26, to reinstate in power ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, expired early this morning.

A delegation from ECOWAS visited this capital last week to convince the military junta to return Bazoum to power by degree, but they were not even received by the CNSP president, General Abdurahman Tchiani.

Last weekend, the military chiefs of the ECOWAS member countries announced, after a summit in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, the completion of plans for a military intervention in Niger, the details of which they kept in reserve for obvious reasons.

The measure of force, however, is encountering stumbling blocks, namely Mali and Burkina Faso, also ruled by military juntas, which warned that they will consider any military operation in Niger a declaration of war against them, as well as the announced opposition of Algeria and Chad, and the closure of Niger’s airspace.

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