Niger: Junta govt asks West Africa’s court to order ECOWAS to lift coup sanctions

Niger’s junta government has asked West Africa’s regional court to order the lifting of sanctions imposed on the country by its ECOWAS neighbors following a military coup on July 30 that toppled democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum, arguing that the sanctions have increased poverty level among millions of Nigeriens.

“There is no sector of the Nigerien society that has not been affected by these sanctions” which have caused untold economic hardship in one of the world’s poorest countries, Younkaila Yaye, one of the junta’s lawyers, argued at the hearing in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

After a group of elite soldiers toppled President Bazoum, Niger has faced a raft of economic sanctions from West Africa’s regional bloc, ECOWAS, as well as countries including the United States whose aid for health, security and infrastructure needs previously accounted for almost half of Niger’s annual budget.

Niger’s neighbors also closed their borders to the country, and more than 70% of its electricity, supplied by Nigeria, was cut off. Financial transactions with other ECOWAS countries were suspended, Niger’s assets in external banks were frozen, and hundreds of millions of dollars in aid were withheld. The sanctions were the most stringent yet imposed by the regional bloc in an effort to stem the tide of coups in Africa’s volatile Sahel region. But they have had little or no impact on the ambition of Niger’s junta government which has consolidated its hold on power while millions of Nigeriens face growing hardship.