Nigerian junta leaders announced their intent to sever military ties with the United States over the weekend, representing a potential end between the U.S. and one of its most important allies for African counterterrorism.
The U.S. military has roughly 650 military personnel in Niger, according to a White House report to Congress from December, who are stationed at a major air base in the northern part of the country where the U.S. would conduct manned and unmanned aerial counterterrorism surveillance.
“The American presence in the territory of the Republic of Niger is illegal,” Niger’s military spokesman, Col. Amadou Abdramane, said on national television, adding that the U.S. presence “violates all the constitutional and democratic rules, which would require the sovereign people — notably through its elected officials — to be consulted on the installation of a foreign army on its territory.”
The decision came days after U.S. officials traveled to Niger for discussions regarding their partnership. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander, and AFRICOM Commander Gen. Michael Langley were among the U.S. representatives for the meeting.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on social media the department was “aware” of the announcement and is “in touch with the [National Council for Safeguarding the Homeland] and will provide further updates as warranted.”
A spokesperson for U.S. Africa Command declined to comment and directed the Washington Examiner to Miller’s statement.
Mutinous soldiers ousted the democratically elected president of Niger last summer. Months later, the French withdrew its military presence.
“I am deeply concerned to see that the junta in Niger has restricted the U.S. presence in the country,” Chairman Michael McCaul, the leader of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement. “This decision will likely result in Russia and China being invited to fill the security void, and terrorist groups like ISIS-Sahel and Jama’at Nasr al-Islami wal Muslimin will expand their territorial control.”
“The administration must reinforce its support to Coastal West Africa and address the underlying sources of the instability,” he added.
Several African nations have experienced military coups in recent years, which have threatened U.S. interests in the region. Most recently, Gabon, Niger, and Sudan have experienced military uprisings, while other military leaders have seized power in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Chad in recent years, as well.
Langley testified in front of Congress earlier this month, and he provided his own explanation of why several coups have taken place in the Sahel and what happens once the military ousts the duly elected leader. The driving force behind the coups, he said, “include endemic corruption, lagging development, weak democratic institutions, and a shortage in strategic patience,” which criminal and terrorist groups are then able to exploit to gain civilian support. But the new leaders then find themselves distanced from Western support, and as problems worsen, they are forced to seek partnerships elsewhere, which is where Russia has sought to capitalize.
The U.S. cannot simply sever its relationship with the Nigerien junta or any of the African countries that experienced military uprisings without risking the possibility that they would simply come to an agreement with the likes of Russia or China.
“Across the continent, we’ve seen autocrats undermine free and fair elections and block peaceful transitions of power,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said during his September visit to Angola. He characterized the current situation as a “profound challenge for democracy in Africa.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“In terms of Wagner’s presence and their impact on Sudan or other places in the region, we’ve seen that wherever Wagner has operated, it’s been problematic,” Austin noted in Angola. “They don’t necessarily abide by any rules and don’t respect the law very much. And so because of that, the effects that they have in the region have not been lasting effects. I think some of the countries that have operated with them, probably will not seek to do so going forward there. But we’ll see what happens. Wagner still has a substantial presence on the continent, as you know and where that goes from here is left to be seen.”
Russia, China, and the U.S. have all sought to develop partnerships with the more than 50 nations in Africa with varying degrees of success, and the recent coups harm the U.S.’s efforts to build lasting partners in the region.