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ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria and neighboring Niger have signed an agreement to strengthen security cooperation despite tensions following a coup in Niger more than a year ago.
The Nigerian military announced the security cooperation agreement in a communique on Tuesday. The two countries’ defense ministers signed the agreement in Niger’s capital, Niamey, this week.
This is the first military agreement between the two countries since the coup last July.
A Nigerian military statement said that under the agreement, Niger reiterated its willingness to resume active participation in the Regional Security Alliance Multinational Joint Task Force.
Security analyst Sahid Shehu praised the agreement.
“This is a very good development for Nigeria, Niger, ECOWAS and the West African sub-region. After the coup in Niger, they actually messed up the situation so much that we have been in a stalemate for a year. So this is the first time we have seen military diplomacy in action because it is after the visit of the Chief of Defence Staff,” Shehu said.
Relations between Niger and Nigeria have been strained since the July 2023 coup that toppled Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum. Previously, ECOWAS, led by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, imposed severe sanctions on Niger and threatened a military invasion.
The West African subregion has struggled for years to curb violence by Islamist militants, including Boko Haram and other armed groups.
Shehu said that if properly implemented, the Nigeria-Niger agreement would bring more positive outcomes to the region and ECOWAS.
“This is a pathway that, if we use it very carefully and wisely, will be a path to recovery not only for Niger but also for Burkina Faso and Mali,” he said. “I would like to suggest to President Tinubu — he is the chairman of ECOWAS — to send the same military diplomacy that was sent to Mali, and perhaps to Burkina Faso as well.”
In January, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso announced their withdrawal from the regional bloc due to sanctions imposed by ECOWAS, and subsequently formed a federation. The three countries accused ECOWAS of failing to address insecurity in the region.
Meanwhile, ECOWAS has not ruled out military intervention in Niger but has expressed a desire for dialogue with the military junta.
Ahmed Buhari, a regional political affairs analyst, said ECOWAS had made a mistake.
“Whether we like it or not, our neighbours may not act exactly as we want but we cannot go to war with our neighbours especially when we are all interconnected at every level. We cannot fight insecurity in Nigeria and at the same time allow these terrorists to come into Niger and come back after a while. Likewise, if Niger fights them and there is no cooperation between the two sides, they can come to Nigeria to take a breath and then attack Niger again,” Buhari said.
In April this year, Nigeria hosted a regional counter-terrorism summit in Abuja, but Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso did not attend.
Nigerien military representatives are expected to arrive in Nigeria soon to discuss military cooperation. Many will be watching to see if this new partnership changes the status quo in the region.
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