Nigerien Military Coup Reject ECOWAS Intervention

Niger on Sunday closed its airspace until further notice, after leaders of its recent coup rejected a deadline to reinstate the country’s ousted president, Mohamed Bazoum. Additionally, the Nigerien junta cited the threat of military intervention from the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS. The military junta’s spokesperson claimed that the ECOWAS bloc, together with a “foreign power” and “armed terrorist groups,” were preparing to attack Niger. ECOWAS said its head of state will meet Thursday to discuss next steps following the junta’s refusal. For more, VOA’s Esther Githui-Ewart spoke to Paul Ejime, a global affairs analyst and ECOWAS consultant.