Niger Coup: Citizens dey struggle under tough sanctions

As e siddon near di door of im medicine shop for Niamey, Abdourahamane Id face happy small as im see pesin dey come im shop. Im bin tink say di pesin fit be im customer, but no be so na just one journalist.

Di 25-year-old from Maradi dey point to di empty shelves for im shop as im spread out im hand to show how im business dey suffer.

“Many times pipo dey come my shop to buy medicines wey dem prescribe for hospital. But dem no get money to pay.”

E explain say since di military coup, life don change well-well.

Twenty-seven million pipo for Niger still dey try to cope wit di impact of di sanctions.

For July, one group of di West African kontri neighbours place tough penalties to punish di Junta – wey dey limit di kontri trade, power supply and cash inflow.

Leaders of di West African regional bloc bring dem in partly to prevent any coups for di Sahel region. Since 2020, six successful coups don happun for West Africa.

Di sanctions na di toughest ever – di European Union also back those sanctions.

First, Nigeria and Benin don close dia borders, den Nigeria stop dia power supply. Financial transactions wit oda West African kontris also dey suspended and dem freeze di kontri assets wey dey for external banks – dis kain tin leave hundreds of millions of dollars in limbo.

Before di coup, aid account for almost half of Niger yearly budget. But afta, both France and di United States, (wey dey provide aid for Niger health, security and infrastructure needs), don suspend dia support. `

Five months afta military seize power from President Bazoum, Niger pipo still dey feel di impact, evri day of dia life

Nigeriens dey struggle to make enough moni wey dia family fit take use chop – especially farmers and livestock herders wey dey rely on export to Nigeria.

Niger don already dey face food security crisis. Just few days afta di coup, World Food Programme teams don deliver food to 140,000 pipo across di kontri and malnutrition dey affect 74,000 pikin dem. One WFP tok-tok pesin say13% of Niger population no get food.

Since den, WFP don report say sanctions and border wey dem close dey affect di supply of quality foods and medical supplies into Niger.

One tok-tok pesin tok say di organisation dey “concerned about di effect, particularly di risk of prices wey dey rise up go make pipo wey already dey for hard circumstances unable to buy staple foods wen dem need dem.”

Nigeria no be only partner for agricultural trade, e dey also supply around 70% of Niger power before di coup. Since den, most of Niger don dey endure to stay inside darkness.

Jamila Amadou Garba be 49-year-old and local trader. Afta her husband die, she dey care for all her seven children alone as tins don tough.

Before di coup, her family fit chop three times daily but now, dem dey chop once, na rice or garri dem dey chop sometimes.

She dey try to change di family food so dem go fit survive, “I buy garin rogo (one kain cassava flour), we weigh sugar, buy oil and make kuli kuli. We dey manage dis for sometime to avoid starving.”

For her, na only God fit help dem comot from dis hard times.

“Di truth bin say, we dey inside trouble becos di sanctions dey affect us.” she tok.

Also, Rafiou Habibo tok say ova di last five months, tins don change. “Wen dem no place embargo, we dey buy one bag of rice from $13-$17. But now di one wey cheap na $25,” im tok.

Inside Transat market for Damagaram, Kabirou Souley Ousmane tok say im dey hope make tins change. E dey sell building materials to survive and e dey always travel go market as e dey hope say dem go buy im goods so e go fit to support im family. Im tok say di sanctions mean say im potential customers moni don freeze for banks.

Pharmaceutical products wey include essential drugs for conditions such as malaria don scarce. And wia dem dey available, e cost.

Inside di medicine shop, Abdourahamane explain say many shop owners no fit buy market and dem don run out of moni.

Dem dey try to get goods from kontris like Chad, im tok.

“Pipo dey come meet us and complain say dem no get enough moni and make we give dem di drugs on loan. Some dey kneel down before me. Look at di shelves, notin dey dia again. »

E add: “We don run out of drugs and moni no dey”.

Im claim say dis mean say common sickness like malaria don dey kill more pipo.

Half of all di record of pipo wey die for Niger na malaria cause am, according to di Severe Malaria observatory.

For November, Junta leader General Abdourahmane Tchiani comot for Niamey to go visit oda West Africa neighbours, Mali and Burkina Faso.

Di destinations dey significant. Aside from say dem dey share boundaries, di three kontris dey under military rule. Dem don sign one pact to cooperate in defence of each oda in di event of attack on any of dem – na survival measure in di face of international condemnation and sanctions.

Dem dey work togada to create economic and political union and dem don announce plan to strengthen dia trade exchanges and jointly carry out energy and industrial projects, plus create investment bank and joint airline.

But di Junta for Niamey still dey under intense pressure.

All three face tough security challenge wit di attack on both civilian and military targets from Islamist militant groups wey dey dia respective kontris and across dia borders.

Security experts dey worry say Niger sanction dey risk di kontri ability to dey fight insurgency across di wider region.

Niger dey part of Di Multinational Joint Task Force, one group wit several units, mostly military, from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. Di headquarter dey for N’Djamena e dey mandate dem make dem end Boko Haram insurgency and till 2023 Niger na ogbonge member.

Although official notification no dey, but dem don comot, security analyst Kabiru Adamu for Abuja tell BBC News say Niger no dey participate like before.

Di sanctions suppose force di Junta to return to constitutional order, Paul Ejime tok.

Ejime wey be London-based African affairs analyst say instead, di regime don dig im grave and di poor population don dey really suffer, im tok.

Suspension of financial transactions by ECOWAS members – particularly di regional West African Bank – mean say moni no dey flow, im say dis na big loss for di kontri wey dey get almost half of im budget from foreign aid.

Ejime add say no be only Niger dey suffer, as Nigeria, Benin and Ghana also dey affected due to suspension in di movement of goods. “Anytin wey affect one kontri go still affect pipo on both sides of di border. Na one big dilemma for ECOWAS,” im add.