Niger open to ECOWAS support on matters of security, minister says

Niger wants to reopen dialogue with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the representative of the junta in power in Niamey told his neighbours at the Peace and Security Forum in Lomé, Togo.

Niger's Interior minister General Mohamed Toumba here in Niamey on 4 September 2023. © AFP - -

Sent to Lomé to represent Niger, General Mohamed Boubacar Toumba said the country was open to a renewed dialogue with its partners within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Toumba has been Niger's Minister of the Interior and Decentralisation since the coup d'état of 26 July 2023 in Niamey, and participated in the Peace and Security Forum, held in Lomé, the capital of Togo, from 20 to 22 October, to discuss the future of the region, especially in terms of security.

It was a first of its kind since the coup in Niger on 26 July 2023.

Lomé Peace and Security Forum was held in the Togolese capital from Friday 20 to Sunday 22 October 2023. © https://lpsf.africa/

This forum began on Friday with a meeting of foreign ministers from ten countries including those from the Sahel countries, namely Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, and lasted until Sunday.

It brought together more than 300 participants and ended with the Lomé declaration on political transitions resulting from coups d'état on the continent

“ECOWAS' sanctions against Niger are very harsh,” General Mohamed Boubacar Toumba told RFI's correspondent in the region, Serge Daniel.

"With the border closed on 27 July, a lot of freight expected to come from the depots has not been able to access Niger," he added. "Many foodstuffs perished, many traders lost a lot of money in this affair. So I think they made the wrong diagnosis, they took the wrong path.”

Togo-Niger-Cedeao / Le ministre d'état , ministre de l'Intérieur et de la Décentralisation du Niger le général Mohamed Boubacar Toumba ce 22/10/ au Forum sur la paix et la sécurité pic.twitter.com/Deed7AbEkW

— Serge Daniel (@sergedanielinfo) October 22, 2023

Asked about Niger's future relations with ECOWAS, the minister said Niger would be happy to reopen ties.

"Why not?" he continued. "We are here to create dialogue. Although this may surprise you, it is perhaps we who are men of dialogue. ECOWAS has no longer flexed its muscles or wants to attack Niger."

He encouraged his West African partners to forget a potential attack against the junta, and called them to join forces with them against islamist insurgents in the Sahel.

"What is certain is that such an undertaking would be perilous for ECOWAS," he added.

"We'd rather have their solidarity by coming to help us fight these terrorists."

He reminded his partners that Niger is "a barrier".

"Today, creating disorder in Niger also means receiving these terrorists at their borders".