Following the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) failure to find a solution to the ongoing impasse, the military junta in Niger has severed diplomatic ties with Nigeria and Togo.

The Junta announced on state television late on Thursday that it had recalled all accredited Niger ambassadors and terminated all military and diplomatic ties with France and the United States.

Additionally, it expelled a number of the important ambassadors from the previous administration and issued a warning to the populace about foreign armies and spies.

To prevent potential conflicts with the junta, ECOWAS had given a seven-day deadline for President Mohamed Bazoum to be reinstated.

In response, President Bola Tinubu sent a powerful delegation, under the command of General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), to speak with the coup organisers, but they only got a chance to speak with junta representatives.

The putschists announced the resignation of the Republic of Niger’s special and plenipotentiary ambassadors to France, Nigeria, Togo, and the United States in what appeared to be a declaration of a deadlock in negotiations. 

The junta’s announcement has increased the country’s post-coup isolation. The government had been the last significant security partner for the United States and its allies in the Sahel, a vast area south of the Sahara Desert where various Islamic extremist groups have turned into the epicentre of terrorism worldwide.

Several European nations have evacuated their citizens from Niger due to worries about the conflict’s escalation.