On July 26, members of Niger’s presidential guard deposed President Mohamed Bazoum in a coup, the fifth profitable one in 9 makes an attempt in West Africa since 2020.
This has prompted the Financial Group of West African States (ECOWAS) to impose sanctions and difficulty a one-week ultimatum to the interim army authorities to reinstall Bazoum or face doable use of power.
If it goes forward, it gained’t be the primary time the 15-member regional bloc has intervened in crises involving member nations. The Financial Group of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), the army arm of ECOWAS, was fashioned in 1990 to recurrently intervene in conflicts inside the area.
Here’s a checklist of these interventions.
1990: Liberia
In 1989, Charles Taylor led a militia in opposition to the Liberian authorities, resulting in the outbreak of civil conflict there. Consequently, the regional bloc made an unprecedented transfer to intervene in 1990. The preliminary 3,000-man ECOMOG contingent was fashioned with personnel drawn from Nigeria, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, and Sierra Leone with extra troopers contributed by Mali.
The mission was controversial as a consequence of a path of human rights violations dedicated by its personnel, particularly in opposition to ladies, however it secured peace. The troops had been current within the nation till 1996 when the conflict ended.
1997: Sierra Leone
ECOMOG’s subsequent cease was the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown, in 1997 following the overthrow of the elected civilian authorities of Ahmed Tejan Kabbah by Main Johnny Paul Koroma in a army coup.
The power, below the command of Nigerian troops, moved a part of its personnel from Monrovia, the Liberian capital, to recapture Freetown from the insurgent group Revolutionary United Entrance (RUF). In February 1998, ECOMOG launched an assault that led to the autumn of the army regime and Kabbah was reinstalled as chief of the nation.
1999: Guinea Bissau
The following cease for ECOMOG was a ceasefire mission in Guinea Bissau after hostilities broke out following an tried coup in 1998. The combat was between authorities forces backed by neighbouring Senegal and Guinea in opposition to coup leaders who had management of the armed forces.
The hostilities had been resolved after a peace settlement was put in place in November 1998 on the circumstances of a nationwide unity authorities and new elections in 1999 however a brand new outbreak of battle in Might 1999 scuppered the settlement.
In November, a peace accord was signed in Abuja which, partly, said the withdrawal of Senegalese and Guinean troops and the deployment of ECOMOG forces to make sure peace.
2003: Cote’d Ivoire
After Ivorian armed forces and insurgent teams got here to a ceasefire settlement in 2003, ECOWAS deployed troops complementing the United Nations and French troops below ECOMICI.
2003: Liberia
The second Liberian civil conflict additionally necessitated a return of regional troops. Whereas the primary civil conflict introduced Charles Taylor to energy, the second civil conflict between 1999 and 2003 led to his exit.
This time, ECOWAS deployed troops below ECOWAS Mission in Liberia (ECOMIL) with some 3,500 troopers, with probably the most coming from Nigeria. They served as an interposition power, preserving the opponents aside and facilitating the arrival of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).
2013: Mali
A 2012 coup in Mali led to a breakdown of order and armed teams instantly took benefit of the coup that adopted to overrun the north of the nation.
ECOWAS led the Africa-led Worldwide Assist Mission in Mali (AFISMA) to help the Malian authorities within the combat in opposition to rebels in 2013.
The mission was authorised by a UN Safety Council decision and its preliminary mandate was one 12 months. Nigeria contributed many of the troops, however a bunch of different West African nations, together with Gabon, Ivory Coast, Niger and Burkina Faso, additionally backed the mission.
AFISMA finally gave technique to the UN Multidimensional Built-in Stabilisation in Mali (MINUSMA).
2017: The Gambia
Codenamed “Operation Restore Democracy”, an ECOWAS operation led by Senegal despatched troops into Banjul to power Yahya Jammel who had refused to concede an election loss to Adama Barrow within the 2016 election.
Barrow was sworn in as president on the Gambian embassy in Dakar and requested an ECOWAS army intervention. The troops ensured the transition inside three days.
The identify of the mission was later modified to ECOWAS Mission in The Gambia (ECOMIG) and lasted till December 2021.
