Niger’s junta shuts airspace as deadline passes, warns of attack by foreign powers
- Niger’s democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum was ousted in a military coup on July 26
- Regional bloc Ecowas had set a Sunday deadline for coup leaders to restore constitutional order and release him, and will now meet Thursday
Niger’s mutinous soldiers closed the country’s airspace and accused foreign powers of preparing an attack, as the junta defied a deadline to restore the ousted president and said any attempt to fly over the country will be met with “an energetic and immediate response”.
Foreign forces were not visible on the streets of the capital Niamey after the deadline came and went.
On Monday the bloc responded publicly to the coup leaders’ recalcitrance, saying its leaders would meet on Thursday over the crisis.
“Ecowas heads of state (will) hold another extraordinary summit on the political situation in the Republic of Niger,” the 15-member bloc said in its first official reaction after Niger ignored Sunday’s deadline.
The summit is to be held in Abuja, Nigeria. The nation’s president Bola Tinubu is the current Ecowas chairman.
