Niger soldiers announce coup and president’s removal on national TV

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Soldiers in Niger say they have removed President Mohamed Bazoum from power, after armed troops earlier blockaded the presidential palace in Niamey, the capital in one of the world’s most unstable nations.

A group of soldiers appeared on the west African country’s national television late on Wednesday, a few hours after the president had been detained.

Reading from a statement, Colonel Amadou Abdramane, seated and flanked by nine other officers wearing fatigues, said the defence and security forces had decided to “put an end to the regime that you know due to the deteriorating security situation and bad governance”.

He said the country’s borders were closed and all institutions of the republic suspended, and announced a national curfew. The soldiers warned against any foreign intervention.

The apparent coup was said to be led by the head of a regional political and security group.

The soldiers, including members of the presidential guard of Bazoum, were earlier said to be engaged in negotiations with the president – who was described as “safe and well” although his location was unclear.

The move by the elite guard force was quickly challenged by the wider army and national guard, who threatened to attack the presidential force unless they stepped down.

The White House said as the situation unfolded that the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, had spoken to the captive Bazoum and “conveyed the unwavering support of the United States … the strong US economic and security partnership with Niger depends on the continuation of democratic governance and respect for the rule of law and human rights”.

Blinken, visiting New Zealand, later said: “I spoke with President Bazoum earlier this morning, and made clear that the US resolutely supports him as the democratically elected president of Niger. We call for his immediate release.”

The UN said its secretary general, Ant?nio Guterres, also spoke to Bazoum and offered his “full support and solidarity”. Guterres called “on all actors involved to exercise restraint and to ensure the protection of constitutional order”.

A source close to Bazoum described the move as a “fit of temper” by the elite troops adding that “talks” were under way after the soldiers blocked access to the palace at about 6.30am on Wednesday.

A Reuters reporter saw military vehicles blocking the entrance to the palace in the capital, Niamey. Access to ministries next to the palace had also been blocked, security sources said. Residents in other parts of the city described traffic moving freely and no evidence of armed men on the streets.

An official in the presidency said staff inside the palace did not have access to their offices, while a statement issued by the presidency on Twitter suggested that the presidential guard had tried to win over the support of some members of the armed forces in their actions.

The chair of the African Union Commission, H E Moussa Faki Mahamat, condemned what he called an “attempted coup”. If confirmed, it would be the fifth attempted coup in west Africa in the past four years.

Bola Tinubu, the president of neighbouring Nigeria and chair of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), called the events “unpleasant developments” and said he was already in “close consultation” with other leaders in the region about the situation.

“The Ecowas leadership will not accept any action that impedes the smooth functioning of legitimate authority in Niger or any part of west Africa … we will do everything within our powers to ensure democracy is firmly planted, nurtured, well rooted and thrives in our region,” he said in a statement.

Lying in the heart of the Sahel, Niger is two-thirds desert and persistently ranks near to or at the bottom of the UN’s human development index, a benchmark of prosperity. It has a growing population of 22.4 million, driven by a birthrate averaging seven children for every woman.

The country is struggling with two jihadist campaigns – one in the south-west, which swept in from neighbouring Mali in 2015, and the other in the south-east, involving jihadists based in north-eastern Nigeria.

Niger’s military has received training and logistical support from the US and France, which have military bases there.

“It’s a fit of temper by the presidential guard but talks are under way with the president,” the source told the AFP news agency, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“The president is fine, he’s safe and sound,” the source said. “He and his family are at the residence.”

The reason for the guards’ behaviour and what was being discussed in the talks were not given.

An MP with Bazoum’s PNDS party said: “I spoke to the president and to friends who are ministers [and] they are fine.”

Bazoum, who was democratically elected in 2021, is a close ally of France. The country’s last coup occurred in February 2010, overthrowing the then-president, Mamadou Tandja.

However, there was an attempted coup days before Bazoum’s inauguration in April 2021, according to a security source at the time. Several people were arrested, including the suspected ringleader, an air force captain named Sani Gourouza. He was arrested in neighbouring Benin and handed over to the Niger authorities.

Ousmane Cisse, a former interior minister under a military government of transition that ran from 2010 to 2011, was detained in April 2022 for his suspected role. He was acquitted in February this year, but five others, including Gourouza, were jailed for 20 years.

A second attempt to oust Bazoum took place in March this year while the president was in Turkey, according to a Niger official, who said an arrest was made.

The authorities have never commented publicly on the incident.

In January 2018, nine soldiers and a civilian were sentenced by a military court to jail terms ranging from five to 15 years for having attempted to topple Bazoum’s predecessor, Mahamadou Issoufou, in 2015.

Those convicted included Gen Souleymane Salou, a former army chief of staff and a member of the junta that had forced out Tandja in 2010.