Six West African nations are in line to contribute troops to form the military force that is expected to enter Niger in an attempt to reverse the July 26, 2023 coup that removed Mohamed Bazoum from office.
According to a regional security tracker and reporting site, Zagazola, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) standby army is ready to undertake its operation.
The troop contibuting nations it reported are Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Benin and Guinea-Bissau.
It is not known how many troops each country is committing and or when the army will be formally deployed.
The Ghana government has been impressed upon by different groups to stay away from committing soldiers to the force tasking government to opt for diplomacy in resolving the political impasse.
The Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led government has yet to make any definitive pronouncement about troop contribution despite hosting the meeting of ECOWAS army chiefs last week.
They stated at the end of their engagements that they were ready to intervene and were only waiting for the greenlight from heads of state.
A news flash posted by Zagazola on Twitter dated August 24, read in part:
Flash info / Military intervention: State of the scene as of Thursday, August 24, 2023.
a. List of contributing countries: Nigeria, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Ghana, Guinea Bissau.
b. The Ghanaian President has received the Military Chiefs.
c. Ongoing: deployment phase of troops and manpower from remote countries to Niger border countries chosen as base, by air and sea.
d. The calls for a diplomatic settlement and the announcement of the tour of the Algerian Minister do not deter the military option.
e. No need for another meeting, we are ready! Confirms a senior officer.
f. The intervention is imminent!
????Flash info / Military intervention: State of the scene as of Thursday, August 24, 2023.
✅ List of contributing countries: Nigeria, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Ghana, Guinea Bissau.
✅ The Ghanaian President has received the Military Chiefs.
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ECOWAS army chiefs at a meeting in Accra | File photo
