Nigerien citizens in their thousands queued up on Saturday outside the Niamey stadium to volunteer after the military junta, behind the July 26 coup, made calls for civilian auxiliary support.

The organisers of the event affirmed that the Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani-led junta was not involved in the initiative but was only aware of it.

West African bloc, ECOWAS, had threatened the coup leaders of a possible military intervention after it met on Friday to finalise the decision.

One of the volunteers, Mamadou, exclaimed, “I want to be a soldier for the love of my country. What’s more, Niger is our country. I want to commit myself to Niger. Long live Niger!”.

“I’ve heard there that they need 5,000 or 10,000 volunteer soldiers. That’s why I came here,” said another volunteer, Abdoulaye a footballer.

Reports say some parents brought their wards to register, while others had been in wait since as early as 3 a.m. to respond to a call from various organisations.

Over the course of the coup aftermath, Nigerien youths and other citizens have taken to the streets to chant their support for the junta and against the decisions of ECOWAS and France, the West African State’s former colonial ruler.

The move to ask for volunteer was led by a local group in Niamey, in a bid to hire tens of thousands of Nigerien volunteers from across the country to sign up for a group they called ‘Volunteers for the Defense of Niger’.

According to one of the founders, Amsarou Bako, who spoke with The Associated Press last week, the group is expected to provide combat assistance, provide technical and engineering logistics, medical care, alongside other functions, should the junta need help.

An activist (name withheld) told the cheering crowd at the stadium, “I’m a military mother, we’re waiting for you, young volunteers. From now until tomorrow, that’s what I had to say. We’re waiting for you, I hope you’ll get us out of all these difficulties.”

An ECOWAS delegation including former Nigerian military head of state Abdulsalami Abubakar had visited Niger on Saturday to further dialogue with the junta, the Nigerien ruling CNSP’s communication office stated.

Abubakar had visited Niamey as ECOWAS representative earlier this month for a dialogue but he couldn’t meet the nation’s military leader Tchiani nor ousted president Mohamed Bazoum.

The Commissioner for Political Affairs and Security for the ECOWAS had on Friday insisted that the bloc they were ready to send a standby force to restore civilian rule should negotiations fail.

The junta had recently announced that it would relinquish power back to civilian leadership after three years.