No fewer than 340 nationals arrived in Paris and Rome respectively in the early hours of Wednesday, following escalating tension in Niger after mutinous soldiers detained Mohamed Bazoum, the democratically elected president over deteriorating security challenges.
TND gathered that 36 Italians, 21 US, 4 Bulgarians, 2 Austrians and one citizen each from Britain, Niger, Hungary, Senegal, and Nigeria among others arrived in Rome, Italy’s capital.
In the same vein, 262 French and German nationals also arrived in Paris, France’s capital.
It would be recalled that France, Italy and Spain and other countries, said they would evacuate their citizens by air.
This development comes after a special Extraordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, gave military junta in the Republic of Niger one week to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum as President or face sanctions and possibly a combined military attack.
However, in a swift response, the Niger putschists rejected the call and warned ECOWAS against military intervention, saying, “We want to once more remind ECOWAS or any other adventurer of our firm determination to defend our homeland.”
In a statement read on Niger national television, the soldiers claimed, “The objective of the ECOWAS meeting is to approve a plan of aggression against Niger through an imminent military intervention in Niamey in collaboration with other African countries that are non-members of ECOWAS, and certain Western countries,” said the military spokesperson, Col. Amadou Abdramane, to have said.
