Coup leaders in Niger Republic have reportedly begun the evacuation of their families to Burkina Faso and Dubai over the threat of invasion by the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS).
According to Reuters, the military junta evacuated their families to Dubai and Burkina Faso through the country's Agadez Airport with the aid of several Gulfstream G550 jets.
A source told the news outlet that the evacuation happened from Friday night 11th to Saturday 12th of August 2023. The source added that the leader of the military junta, General Abdourahmane Tchiani, appeared to have had intelligence of an imminent attack by ECOWAS.
He said: "In the night of Friday, 11th to Saturday 12th of August 2023, the Nigerien junta, under the command of General Tchiani, evacuated all the putschists' families.
"Indeed, several Gulfstream G550 type aircraft (in particular flight No. BFY824R) took off from Agadez Airport to Burkina Faso and Dubai with their women and children on board.
"General Tchiani appears to have had intelligence of an imminent attack by ECOWAS. He protects his family and leaves Nigerien people behind to a certain death. While he shelters his family, Tchiani is ready to send soldiers into a fratricidal war.
"Like any selfish and totalitarian putschists, he already uses state finances for personal purposes. It is at the expense of the Nigerien state that he sends his family to live richly under the Dubai sun. The junta does not hesitate a moment to set ablaze Niger while preparing a golden exit in Dubai."
This is as ECOWAS said it was ready to intervene militarily in Niger Republic if diplomatic efforts to persuade the ruling military junta, which ousted President Mohamed Bazoum in a July 26 coup, to restore democracy in the country failed.
ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Abdel-Fatau Musah, disclosed this Thursday in Ghana at a gathering of West African defence chiefs, who were meeting to deliberate on a standby force.
"Let no one be in doubt that if everything else fails, the valiant forces of West Africa...are ready to answer to the call of duty," Reuters quoted Musah as saying. "By all means available, constitutional order will be restored in the country," he added
The meeting to discuss Niger's crisis came after the August 6 deadline for the coup leaders to release and reinstate Bazoum or face military intervention. Bazoum has remained under house arrest with his wife and son in Niger's capital, Niamey.
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