Nigeria Denies Backing Niger's Failed Base 101 Mutiny After Online Claims Implicate ECOWAS

Nigeria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on September 3-4, 2026 rejecting what it called "false and mischievous" social media claims that Abuja — and by implication ECOWAS — had backed the August 28-29 mutiny at Niamey's Base 101 against Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani's junta. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sola Enikanolaiye said Nigeria "will never support illegality or unconstitutional change of government anywhere, no matter who is involved or which country is concerned," and described Nigeria as a "peace-loving nation" and "defender of constitutional order" in West Africa and the Sahel. The denial follows Niger's own accusations, voiced separately by junta officials, that foreign actors including France, Chad, Benin, and Côte d'Ivoire were behind the mutiny, and comes amid a broader erosion of trust between Nigeria and the Alliance of Sahel States juntas since Niger's 2023 coup.