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 Neighborhood of West African States (ECOWAS) to impose sanctions and difficulty a one-week ultimatum to the interim army authorities to reinstall Bazoum or face attainable use of drive.
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 Neighborhood of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), the army arm of ECOWAS, was shaped in 1990 to commonly intervene in conflicts inside the area.
Here’s a listing of these interventions.
1990: Liberia
In 1989, Charles Taylor led a militia towards the Liberian authorities, resulting in the outbreak of civil battle there. Consequently, the regional bloc made an unprecedented transfer to intervene in 1990. The preliminary 3,000-man ECOMOG contingent was shaped with personnel drawn from Nigeria, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, and Sierra Leone with further troopers contributed by Mali.
The mission was controversial because of a path of human rights violations dedicated by its personnel, particularly towards girls, however it secured peace. The troops have been current within the nation till 1996 when the battle 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 drive, beneath 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 towards coup leaders who had management of the armed forces.
The hostilities have 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, partially, acknowledged 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 beneath ECOMICI.
2003: Liberia
The second Liberian civil battle additionally necessitated a return of regional troops. Whereas the primary civil battle introduced Charles Taylor to energy, the second civil battle between 1999 and 2003 led to his exit.
This time, ECOWAS deployed troops beneath ECOWAS Mission in Liberia (ECOMIL) with some 3,500 troopers, with essentially the most coming from Nigeria. They served as an interposition drive, conserving the fighters 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 assist the Malian authorities within the combat towards rebels in 2013.
The mission was authorised by a UN Safety Council decision and its preliminary mandate was one yr. Nigeria contributed many of the troops, however a bunch of different West African international locations, together with Gabon, Ivory Coast, Niger and Burkina Faso, additionally backed the mission.
AFISMA ultimately gave method 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 drive 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 title of the mission was later modified to ECOWAS Mission in The Gambia (ECOMIG) and lasted till December 2021.
