A senior ECOWAS official told West African army generals that the bloc is "ready" to intervene militarily in Niger if a coup there is not reversed after coup leaders refused to reinstate deposed former President Bazoum. In Niger's capital, Niamey, large crowds have taken part in protests against ECOWAS and in favor of the coup leaders. Demonstrators accuse ECOWAS of being manipulated by foreign powers and say they reject outside intervention. For an analysis into the international intervention in Niger, VOA’s Vincent Makori spoke to Gnaka Lagoke, a professor of African Studies at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in the U.S.