From the roof of the palace in Niamey, the capital of Niger, the soldiers of the Presidential Guard were on the lookout. On Sunday, August 6, a handful of men wearing the brown berets of the Presidential Guard suspiciously scanned the rare vehicles passing along the Corniche Yantala that separates the presidential office from the Niger River. Their commander, General Abdourahamane Tiani, was the instigator of the July 26 putsch against the elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, who is still being held behind these high walls with his wife and son.
At one of the entrances to this large building, which housed the French colonial administration prior to the country's independence in 1960, an armored vehicle stood where a few soldiers were usually stationed, before the coup. Now that the ultimatum set by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to free Bazoum has expired, the leaders of the junta, who have proclaimed themselves the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP), know that their survival is at stake.
Will the threat of an operation by regional heads of state to restore President Bazoum's legitimate power be carried out in the coming hours or days, at the risk of triggering an armed conflict? In the meantime, the CNSP is trying to mobilize support both inside and outside the country. Mali and Burkina Faso, also led by military juntas, have declared that ECOWAS intervention would constitute a "declaration of war." Algeria, which is not a member of the regional organization but shares almost 1,000 kilometers of border with Niger, has voiced its hostility to an operation which, according to Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, would constitute "a direct threat" to his country.
Bazoum's Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism has said that an intervention by ECOWAS would not be a "war against Niger," but a "last resort" in the form of a swift operation to reach the presidential palace, "to free a president taken hostage."
As of Monday morning, there were still no signs of military action. In Niamey, away from the palpable tension around the palace, many parts of the capital spent Sunday in a calm state. Already preoccupied by the jihadist threat that has been gnawing away at their country's territory for a decade, most locals went about their customary activities: weddings in hotels, prayers at the mosque and traditional tea gatherings on street corners and in gardens.
On the other hand, in the center of this capital of nearly 2 million inhabitants, a historic bastion of the opposition, anger roared in the General Seyni-Kountché Stadium. In the afternoon, thousands of Nigeriens poured into the stands, wrapped in Mali and Burkina Faso flags, while others got out of cabs wearing boubous in the colors of Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire. More than 30,000 people shouted their support for the junta, in a bid to show ECOWAS countries and their supposed backers, France and the United States, that it too has the support of a segment of the population.
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