Days after a military coup deposed Mohamed Bazoum as the country’s elected leader, there has been a blackout in the Niger Republic.
Nigelec, the electricity provider for Niger, revealed that Nigeria turned off the nation’s power supply as the cause of the blackout. The leaders of the Economic and West African Community (ECOWAS) have stated that they will impose penalties on Niger, however it is unknown if these sanctions will affect electricity supplies.
Nigeria is the sole source of electricity for the Niger Republic. The Kainji Dam serves as the source of the nation’s electricity.
The Niamey, Maradi, and Zinder residents reportedly had electricity for around an hour before it was shut off for up to five hours, according to the BBC. In Niger, where supplies are often consistent and reliable, power outages like these are uncommon.
According to an unnamed source who spoke to the media, a presidential decree caused the supply to Niger to be cut off on Tuesday, August 1.
The defence chiefs of the ECOWAS are currently gathering in Nigeria to talk about a potential military intervention to put an end to the coup. Insisting that any military action against the new regime would also amount to a “declaration of war” against them, the military juntas in charge of Mali and Burkina Faso have warned ECOWAS against intervening in Niger. Their defence ministers did not attend the ECOWAS summit in Abuja.
