Following the coup last month, ECOWAS reaffirmed that it is prepared to act militarily in Niger, referring to the country's ousted President, Mohamed Bazoum, as a "hostage".

Abdel-Fatau Musah, the commissioner for political affairs, peace, and security for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), made the remarks on Thursday as military chiefs of staff from the coalition met in Accra, Ghana. He claimed that the military junta in Niger was "playing cat and mouse" with the coalition by refusing to meet its envoys.

The Accra conference, which was originally scheduled for last weekend, was summoned to go through the specifics of the standby military force that ECOWAS authorized when a deadline to release Bazoum and reestablish democracy passed.

Musah claimed that armed action should only be used as a last resort if diplomatic attempts are unsuccessful, but he added that a military operation was still an option despite doubts about ECOWAS' readiness to act despite recent loud rhetoric.

"The military and the civilian forces of west Africa are ready to answer to the call of duty," he informed the assembled heads of defense staff from member states meeting at the Camp Burma military base in Accra.

"If push comes to shove we are going into Niger with our own contingents and equipment and our own resources to make sure we restore constitutional order. If other democratic partners want to support us they are welcome," he said.

Musah harshly criticized the junta for declaring that it had sufficient evidence to prosecute Bazoum for treason.

"The irony of it is that somebody who is in a hostage situation himself … is being charged with treason. When did he commit high treason is everybody’s guess," Musah said.

All of the bloc's members, with the exception of Cape Verde and those under military rule, had agreed to contribute soldiers, Musah said.

"Democracy is what we stand for and it’s what we encourage. The focus of our gathering is not simply to react to events, but to proactively chart a course that results in peace and promotes stability," said Gen. Christopher Gwabin Musa, Nigeria's chief of Defense staff, echoing Musah.

The meeting is anticipated to focus on the logistics of deployment if ordered, not least by those nations that do not share a border with Niger. While little information about a potential Niger operation has been publicly disclosed, it is anticipated that Ivory Coast, Benin, and Nigeria would help with troops.

Turmoil within the Union

Despite the aggressive language, a number of important nations that have pledged to contribute forces -- including Nigeria and Ghana -- are encountering domestic political resistance to the proposed operation.

The senate of Nigeria has voiced resistance, and the opposition parties in Ghana have questioned the constitutionality of any military action.

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The African Union is another obstacle. The African Union's peace and security council held discussions about the Niger crisis on Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 

A diplomat who spoke to French media indicated that southern and northern African countries were "fiercely against any military intervention" and that the proposed ECOWAS action had been rejected after a "difficult" discussion.

The senior ECOWAS commanders started their meeting in Accra on Thursday and it will continue through Friday in the wake of the recent carnage in Niger, where insurgents ambushed and murdered at least 17 Nigerien soldiers.

For more than ten years, insurgents have plagued Africa's Sahel area. They first appeared in northern Mali in 2012 before moving to nearby Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015.

A fracture in the area between its coastal nations and those in the unstable Sahel was revealed by Burkina Faso and Mali. They warned that any military action in Niger would be deemed an act of war.

Guinea, which is also run by the military and has denounced all acts of aggression from abroad, has been silent.

All of these nations, which are ECOWAS members, have since seen military coups, partly as a result of rising resentment over the failure of the government to stop the slaughter.

Read: Niger events reflect worrying trend across Sahel: UN chief

New US ambassador to Niger will arrive 'later this week'

The State Department announced on Wednesday that Kathleen FitzGibbon, the new US ambassador to Niger, will land in the capital, Niamey.

She is anticipated to arrive later this week, according to a US official. 

State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel claimed that FitzGibbon's visit is a message that Washington is still paying attention to the issue. He said there are no preparations for her to give her credentials to the coup leaders because doing so is not necessary for her job at the embassy.

Coup crisis deepens Niger food insecurity: UN

The continued situation in Niger could dramatically worsen the already severe food insecurity there, the UN said on Wednesday, calling for humanitarian exceptions to sanctions and border closures to prevent a disaster.

More than three million Niger citizens experienced severe food insecurity prior to the overthrow of democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum in a coup late last month, according to the UN humanitarian organization OCHA.

It cautioned, using an early assessment from the World Food Programme (WFP), that more than seven million additional people who are now categorized as moderately food insecure "could see their situation worsen due to the unfolding crisis."

"We urge all parties to facilitate humanitarian exemptions, enabling immediate access to people in need of critical food and basic necessities," Margot van der Velden, WFP’s Acting Regional Director for Western Africa, said.

Additionally, she urged for increased financial aid, saying the humanitarian crisis in Niger is deteriorating just as the WFP is being forced to reduce rations everywhere else owing to a shortage of funding.