#ecowas

Usually, military coups in Africa are treated by neighbouring states as internal affairs. But there is one major exception: when a coup threatens French interests. When Niger's military removed Paris-aligned President Mohamed Bazoum in 2023, ECOWAS, led by Nigeria and heavily backed by France, threatened to invade and reinstall him. It was only Burkina Faso and Mali's warning that they would defend Niger, combined with Nigeria's own parliament rejecting the invasion plan, that prevented a disastrous regional war.

Fast forward to today: a coup unfolds in Benin, and suddenly the "internal affair" principle disappears. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, in coordination with Emmanuel Macron, authorised a military intervention in Benin without any parliamentary approval or public debate. One phone call with Paris was apparently enough. Nigerian fighter jets even took off from the Lagos base and fired on Beninese soldiers.

Meanwhile, Tinubu seems far less eager to deploy the same military resources to confront the terrorists destabilising Nigeria and the wider region. The contrast speaks for itself.

You might ask why Nigeria is so keen to intervene. We break it down and explain why Benin is strategically important to France, to the AES alliance, and to ECOWAS.

Source: Sovereign Media

🇧🇯 Beninese Are Sending A Clear Message, Only The People Can Say It Is Over ✊🏾

you know, just like the nazis. given the wagnerites were already calling themselves musicians for being named after hitler's favourite composer who knows what they are gonna call themselves now.

🔴⚫️🟢

#StandWithNiger ✊🏿

#StandWithSudan

#StandWithMali

#StandWithBurkinoFaso

#StandWithHayti

Edit: This post is sarcastic. A comment from @zvaigzdelasas (thank you) made me realize that for people who know nothing about the situation my post could seem very serious. So to clarify…

While the ECOWAS could say something about the situation them not saying anything wouldn’t be surprising either. Not because they are sell outs (even if they are) but simply because Niger was part of the ECOWAS and Gabon is not. On top of it a potential intervention in Gabon would require the support of Cameroon at the very least they would need to be allowed to fly over Cameroon. Cameroon was (still is) against a military intervention in Niger so it’s safe to assume they would be against a military intervention in Gabon too. Also while I talk about French imperialism and hypocrisy, the US also have a big influence in central Africa which is to take into account. France doesn’t have to deal just with African countries the US are involved too and that changes the range of what France can say and do while expecting no real consequences.

Lastly given how important Gabon is for France and what happened during the last election, added to the fact that the coup is not anti western imperialism at all and that the French medias are oddly supporting it, it wouldn’t be surprising if this was a fake coup supported by France to avoid a real coup that would hurt France’s interests in Gabon.

Canada is speaking out against a coup d’etat in Niger, but hasn’t joined other nations in threatening to cut aid to the West African country.

Last Wednesday, a faction of Niger’s military claimed to have overthrown the country’s democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum after detaining him in his palace.

In a tweet Friday evening, Global Affairs Canada wrote that Ottawa “strongly condemns the attempted coup” in Niger and calls for Bazoum’s release.

“We reaffirm our support for Niger’s democracy and reiterate our call for President Bazoum’s release,” the department wrote, while expressing support for the Economic Community of West African States, a group of 15 countries known as ECOWAS.

That bloc has threatened to sanction leaders of the military junta and send in troops if Bazoum isn’t restored to power within a week

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