Defense Headquarters in Abuja is hosting a high-level delegation conference to discuss the ongoing operations of military juntas in the Republic of Niger. Military commanders from several West African countries have come.

The seats designated for the military chiefs of Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, and Burkina Faso are reportedly empty at the moment.

Currently on the ground are the military chiefs of Togo, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Gambia, Cote’Divoire, Cabo Verde, and the Republic of Benin.

The conference is being presided over by ECOWAS military chief Gen. Christopher Musa.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has given those behind the Niger coup a week to reestablish democratic rule or face military intervention on Sunday.

The nation’s Presidential Guard last Wednesday imprisoned Nigerien President Mohammed Bazoum inside his palace.

General Abdourahamane Tchiani, the head of the presidential guard, was named as the next leader of the nation on Friday.

Since 2011, Tchiani has served as the head of the Presidential Guard. He claimed that the military staged the coup in reaction to “the degradation of the security situation” brought on by terrorist violence.

In response to ECOWAS’ threat to use force if the seven-day ultimatum was not met, the Niger military warned of “the consequences that will follow from any foreign military intervention,” saying “certain dignitaries are thinking of confrontation,” which “will end in nothing but the massacre of the Nigerien population and chaos”.