The leaders of the three Sahel nations on Sunday issued a statement saying it was a “sovereign decision” to leave the ECOWAS “without delay”.

Struggling with jihadist violence and poverty, the regimes have had tense ties with ECOWAS since coups took place in Niger last July, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Mali in 2020.

All three were suspended from ECOWAS, with Niger and Mali facing heavy sanctions.

The move kicks off a complex and sensitive process that Paris expects to be completed by the end of the year, drawing the curtain on another French anti-jihadist operation in Africa.

“The first troops have left,” the spokesman of the French chief of staff told AFP, confirming an announcement Monday by Niger’s military leadership, which said that the 1,400-strong French contingent would begin leaving Tuesday.

Niger had spoken of convoys of troops being escorted out of the country overland by the Nigerien army, without saying where they would go.

The withdrawal was expected to cause logistical headaches for the French, with few safe routes out of a region plagued by myriad jihadist groups.

Around 1,000 French troops were stationed in the capital Niamey, with another 400 deployed at two forward bases in the north-west, near the borders with Mali and Burkina Faso, a hotbed of insurgent activity.

It is the fourth time in under two years that French troops have been sent packing by a former African colony, dealing a severe blow to France’s influence on the continent and to its prestige on the international stage.

France’s ambassador to Niger was also given his marching orders by the leaders of the July 26 coup that toppled French-backed President Mohamed Bazoum.

He returned to Paris on September 27, prompting celebrations in Niamey.

Niamey’s military rulers had labelled the announcement of France’s diplomatic and troop withdrawals in September as a “step towards the sovereignty of Niger”.

Mali and Burkina Faso, which have also undergone coups in the past two years, have also turned their backs on France, accusing it of a colonialist attitude and of failing to effectively combat jihadists.

Mali has pivoted towards Moscow, bringing in mercenaries from the notorious Wagner group.

In Niger, anti-French demonstrators have also been seen waving Russian flags – scenes in stark contrast to the rejoicing that greeted French troops in 2013 when they helped liberate northern Mali from Al-Qaeda-affiliated insurgents.

Niger had in recent months been acting as a regional hub for French troops helping armies in the region fight Islamist insurgents.

French President Emmanuel Macron had initially attempted to keep his troops and ambassador in the country, arguing that only the ousted Bazoum had the authority to request their withdrawal.

In late September however, he gave into pressure to bring them home after months of anti-French protests.

France still insists, however, that Bazoum’s ousted government remains the sole legitimate authority.

The former president remains under house arrest in Niamey.

The United States still has about 1,100 military personnel in the country but after Macron’s announcement said last month it would “evaluate” its next steps.

Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine will lead the 21-member government, with generals from the new military governing council heading the defense and interior ministries.

Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani, the head of the mutineers who took control of Niger, has issued a decree establishing a new transitional administration.

The ActuNiger news portal states that Tchiani signed the order on Wednesday and that the new interim administration now has 21 ministers.

A very small percentage of the new government’s members are listed as serving in the military.

President Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown and detained on July 26 by his own guards, led by Tchiani, who proclaimed himself the new president of the nation.

The country’s borders were then shut down by the interim National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, disregarding security pacts with France, Niger’s former colonial power.

The Economic Community of West African States froze the assets of the rebels and suspended all financial help to the nation on July 30. The sub-regional union also blocked all borders and forbade commercial flights into and out of the nation.

Subsequently, ECOWAS warned that if Bazoum was not reinstated and order was restored, it would turn to military action and gave the coup leaders one week to do so. However, Sunday marked the end of the deadline

A spokesman for the military junta made the announcement on television late on Monday night.

Lamine Zeine was formerly the minister of economy and finance for several years in the cabinet of then-president Mamadou Tandja, who was ousted in 2010, and most recently worked as an economist for the African Development Bank in Chad, according to a Nigerien media report.

At the end of July, the military ousted the democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum and suspended the constitution in the country of 26 million inhabitants.

Under Bazoum, Niger had been one of the last strategic partners of the West in the fight against the advance of Islamist terrorists in the Sahel.

An ultimatum from the Economic Community of West African States to the coup plotters to reinstate Bazoum expired over the weekend.

Otherwise, ECOWAS would take measures that could include force, the ultimatum said.

The prime ministers of the ECOWAS member states will now meet in Nigeria’s capital Abuja on Thursday to discuss how to proceed.

“ECOWAS heads of state (will) hold another extraordinary summit on the political situation in the Republic of Niger,” the 15-member bloc said in its first official reaction after Niger ignored Sunday’s deadline to reinstate democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum.

The summit is to be held in Abuja, Nigeria, whose president Bola Tinubu is the current ECOWAS chairman.

Earlier on Monday, an ECOWAS source said West African nations were not envisaging an immediate military intervention at this stage.

Italy and Germany called for a diplomatic solution in the troubled Sahel nation.

Neighbouring Mali said it and Burkina Faso — which have both been suspended from ECOWAS over their own military coups — were sending a joint official delegation to Niamey to show “solidarity (with) the people of Niger”.

They have said military intervention would be tantamount to a declaration of war.

But in a swift reaction, the Niger putschists rejected the call and warned ECOWAS against military intervention, saying, “We want to once more remind ECOWAS or any other adventurer of our firm determination to defend our homeland.”

ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government held an extraordinary meeting on Sunday at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja, to discuss the next line of action on the developments in Niger Republic.

Recognising Bazoum as the legitimate President, the bloc rehashed its earlier resolution to explore “all measures necessary” to restore democratic governance in Niger.

Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, made this known in a statement signed saying that the inmate was captured by police on patrol around General Hospital Suleja down to the Bakassi area of Suleja, and based on credible intelligence.

It stated, “in view of the recent attack at Kuje Custodial Center and escape of some inmates, on 9/07/2022, Police operatives attached to ‘A’ Div Suleja while on patrol around general hospital Suleja down to Bakasi area of Suleja and based on credible intelligence, the police operatives stormed an identified compound and arrested one Kazeem Murtala aged 54yrs”.

Abiodun explained that during interrogation, the inmate confessed that he escaped from Kuje during the attack.

According to him, the inmate was serving a jail term after conviction for an offense he committed and he has been in the custody for the past two years.

The statement further stated that based on the directive of the state Commissioner of Police, CP Monday Bala Kuryas, the inmate had been transferred to the custodial center.

The state police command then thanked members of the public for giving such intelligence to the police while urging them to sustain effort toward fighting crime and criminality in the state.

The Nigerien president who was on a two-day official visit to the country was accompanied to the State House by Governors of some northern states, which share boundaries with the neighbouring country.

The Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammed Bello and some presidential aides were part of the team that welcomed the president.

NAN reports that the two West African leaders went into closed doors bilateral talks immediately after the brief welcome ceremony.

Bazoum was inaugurated as President of Niger Republic on April 2, 2021, after winning the elections held on December 27, 2020 and took over from his predecessor, Mahamadou Issoufou.

The president, expressed his gratitude for the release of the abductees in a statement by his spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Saturday.

According to the statement, the President commended the nation’s security and intelligence agencies and the government of Niger state for their responses in securing the release.

“We are happy they have been released,” he said.

Buhari also greatly sympathised with the staff and the students, their parents and friends on this ordeal.

He, however, warned that the country would not continue to suffer these attacks that threaten the growth of education, the security and life of the future leaders at the same time putting the nation in a negative light.

The president reiterated his earlier advice to school owners, particularly the state and local governments as well as religious organisations to scale up security around their schools.

He said this should be in line with the standards laid down by the UN-backed Safe School Programme of the administration.