The African Union’s Peace and Security Council on Thursday suspended Gabon following the Wednesday overthrow of President Ondimba Ali Bongo by soldiers led by the head of the Republican guards, Gen Brice Nguema.
The continental body in a post on X, formerly Twitter, condemned the military takeover of power in the Central African country.
This came as Rwanda and Cameroon hurriedly retired 1, 029 senior officers in a surprise move against their respective militaries.
The Rwandan authorities approved the retirement of 12 generals, including two four-star generals, James Kabarebe and Fred Ibingira, two three-star generals, Charles Kayonga and Frank Mushyo Kamanzi, and several officers.
According to the report, the government approved the retirement of 12 generals and many officers. The publication stated that the retirements were announced on Wednesday, in a statement issued by Rwanda Defence Force.
Among those retired are two four-star generals, James Kabarebe and Fred Ibingira, two three-star generals, Charles Kayonga and Frank Mushyo Kamanzi.
Kabarebe and Kayonga have previously served as Chief of Defence Staff of RDF, while the other two have been service chiefs previously
The statement partly reads, “The President has also approved the retirement of 83 senior officers, six junior officers and 86 senior non-commissioned officers, 678 whose contracts ended and 160 medical discharges.”
In Cameroon, President Paul Biya has also reshuffled the military with new appointments to the Controle Generale des Armees.
The new controllers are Capt Ajeagah Njei Félix Colonel and Colonel Nguema Ondo Bertin Bourger.
Appointments were also made to the positions of Technical Advisers, Bureau Commissariat, and Air Force Technical Inspector.
Disclosing its decision after a meeting of its Peace and Security Council, the AU said it “decides to immediately suspend the participation of Gabon in all activities of the AU, its organs and institutions.”
It said the meeting was chaired by the AU commissioner for political affairs, Bankole Adeoye of Nigeria, and the current holder of the council’s rotating chair, Burundi’s Willy Nyamitwe.
Humanitarian crisis
That said, the closure of the borders of Nigeria and other neighbouring countries has starved the francophone nation of food and other critical supplies, putting the beleaguered country on the edge of a humanitarian crisis.
To compel the junta led by Gen Tchiani Abdourahmane to restore the ousted president to power, the 15-member regional bloc imposed stringent sanctions on the Sahel nation and also threatened military intervention to restore constitutional order.
It suspended all commercial transactions with Niger, froze its assets in the regional central bank, including the assets of the state and state enterprises in commercial banks, and suspended all financial assistance with regional development banks.
A planned $51m bond issuance by Niger in the West African regional debt market was cancelled by the regional central bank following the imposition of sanctions. Niger had planned to raise $834 million from the regional debt market in 2023.
Nigeria also cut the power supply to the country on the 80mw Birnin-Kebbi line, while Ivory Coast suspended imports and exports of Nigerien goods.
West Africa’s regional central bank, the BCEAO, shut down its branches in Niger, citing risks to operations.
However, the Niger Country Director of the International Rescue Committee, Paolo Cernuschi, said these decisions were having disastrous humanitarian impacts on the most economically vulnerable people in the Niger Republic.
He disclosed in an opinion published by Euronews on Thursday that aid organisations cannot get critical supplies into the country.
The border closures, he noted, had further compounded the political crisis, preventing life-saving humanitarian supplies and essential aid from reaching the communities that needed them most, creating a barrier that separates people from the assistance they require to survive.
Cernuschi explained, “We have en route shipments of life-saving nutritional supplements for 2,300 children that we don’t know when we’ll receive. While we have contingency stocks in place, those will eventually run out.
“If border closures and sanctions persist, aid supplies running out will be all but a certainty, and the capacity of humanitarian actors to continue delivering will be jeopardised.
“By some estimates, supplies in the country at the time of the coup were sufficient for two to three months of humanitarian response. With supply chains requiring from a few weeks to a couple of months to replenish stocks, we are fast approaching the point where shortages will be inevitable.”
The country director said the sanctions had unintended adverse impacts on the lives of ordinary citizens who are already struggling to meet their basic needs.
He advised that humanitarian exemptions must be guaranteed to ensure continuity of humanitarian work in Niger.He advised that “The international community and regional organisations must prioritise a ‘do no harm’ approach in dealing with this situation. Diplomatic efforts should focus on finding peaceful solutions that prioritise the well-being of all Nigerien citizens, regardless of their socio-economic status.
Food aid
Some agencies are using trucks, said World Food Programme regional spokesperson, Djaounsede Madjiangar, but that takes extra time.
Requests for special ECOWAS clearance for aid supplies have so far not been granted, he added.
A UNICEF spokesperson had told Reuters that the agency has about 50 containers with immunization, cold chain equipment, and therapeutic food stuck at different entry points, unable to get into the country, while more than a million doses of yellow fever and rotavirus vaccines cannot be flown in from Europe due to the airspace closure.
He added the agency was concerned about some 28 million vaccine doses stocked inside the country, with 95 percent of warehouses currently hit by power outages.
Gignac also voiced concerns about the security of Niger’s population, especially among its 700,000 forcibly displaced people, describing a sharp increase in protection incidents such as kidnapping and sexual violence since the coup.
The World Food Programme said the political development in the country has made the hunger crisis critical.
The acting WFP Regional Director for Western Africa, Margot van der Velden, in an editorial on the agency’s website stressed the imperative of getting aid to Niger’s vulnerable population.
“Our work is vital for the most vulnerable in Niger and needs to continue, particularly in the current circumstances. Whatever the political situation, continuing our humanitarian and resilience efforts is crucial at these times of crisis,” she added.
In the first week of August alone, WFP said its teams delivered life-saving food to 140,000 people across the country and vital malnutrition care to 74,000 children.
As concerns about the humanitarian situation mount, Nigerians residing in Niger have called on the Federal Government to resolve ECOWAS’ differences with the embattled country.
Ibrahim Afolabi, who spoke with our correspondent from Taawa, said that most Nigerians living in Niger Republic were apprehensive about the situation.
He said, “Although we cannot sleep with our two eyes closed, honestly, there is no form of harassment against us. The only problem we have now is the high cost of living compared to before the closure of borders at both ends.
“ECOWAS needs to soft-pedal on this issue; the majority of the people of Niger Republic here support the military junta and their style in the country, so why not ECOWAS look at that aspect and resolve this issue?”
“We now use the bush (route) to get across to the other country from Nigeria. So, the expenses have been added to the cost of foodstuffs, especially those items we take to them from Nigeria and the one we buy over there (in Niger),’’ he revealed.
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu on Thursday said all diplomatic options will be exhausted with the military junta in Niger Republic before a resort to military intervention comes into the picture.
Punch/Anjola Babatope
