The population of Niger struggles after the military coup and ECOWAS sanctions

“I want anything that can help the situation return to normal,” Hassan said in an interview in Niamey, the capital of Niger, adding that his money in the bank will not last much longer and that he is worried about feeding his young daughter. and his son. .

Nearly a month after military officials seized power, there is little obvious consensus inside Niger about whether to support the coup leaders or Bazoum, who is held captive by the military.

What is clear is the price of the crisis. Electricity shortage that followed Nigeria’s decision to cut off power to Niger in an effort to put pressure on the coup plotters. they have disrupted small businesses and caused food spoilage. Border closures have paralyzed businesses like Hassan’s and jeopardized the delivery of humanitarian assistance, including nutritional supplements for children.

Civic leaders, activists and others in Niamey said in interviews that as time goes by, the humanitarian situation worsens.

Even before the current crisis, around 13 percent of the population (or 3.3 million people) was considered to be food insecure, according to the International Rescue Committee. Then, in response to the coup, the regional bloc of countries known as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced sanctions and the price of rice rose 17 percent in the following week, the IRC said.

“According to some estimates, supplies in the country at the time of the coup were enough for two to three months of humanitarian response,” IRC director in Niger Paolo Cernuschi said in a statement. “With supply chains taking anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months to restock, we are fast approaching the point where shortages will be inevitable.”

As Niger’s crisis drags on, its West African neighbors are put to the test

In the small shop where Abbas Daouda used to make a living, he rushed one recent afternoon to grind corn and millet before power cuts cut his workday short. Daouda, who said he cannot afford to buy a generator, has seen his earnings drop from the equivalent of $16 a day to around $8. He said he still has enough food to feed his family, but sometimes he skips meals himself, including lunch that day.

“I hope the bosses up there reach an agreement,” he said, referring to the country’s top figures.

Barmou Sahabi, a 54-year-old farmer from the outskirts of Niamey, said the price of a bag of rice has risen from about $23 to $28 in recent weeks. He said power outages that followed Nigeria’s power outage in Niger have made it difficult to charge cell phones and electric fans can no longer be used to ward off mosquitoes that proliferate during the rainy season.

Now Niger also faces the prospect of military intervention by its neighbors who want to restore constitutional order to the country. The group, led by Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has declared the coup in Niger a red line after coups in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.

ECOWAS said last week that the bloc remained open to dialogue with the coup leaders, but had also set an undisclosed “D-Day” to intervene if diplomacy failed. Talks between ECOWAS and the military junta, led by General Abdourahmane Tchiani, appear to have largely stalled. Tchiani was head of Niger’s presidential guard when he overthrew Bazoum.

Sahabi, the farmer, said the threat of military intervention has made his future uncertain. “We are afraid,” he said.

Laoual Sayabou, coordinator of a network of human rights groups in Niamey, said the sanctions had been severe and profoundly affected the lives of citizens, but many were still “fighting to see their president and the institutions in which they were found”. trust released.”

“The Nigerien people elected President Bazoum, and he is the one we recognize,” Sayabou said, adding that support for the coup has been fueled by opportunistic and youth-targeted propaganda.

Community leaders say they are also concerned about a reduced space for dissent and criticism of the junta. In Niamey, teachers who signed a letter criticizing their union for supporting the coup without consulting their members were questioned by police on Wednesday and later demoted from their posts.

“I fear for my country,” said one of the professors, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “We are in a very dangerous place.”

A reporter from Niamey, Niger, whose name The Washington Post is withholding for personal safety, contributed to this report.