Soldiers claim to have overthrown Niger’s president

A group of soldiers who appeared on Niger’s national television late on Wednesday say President Mohamed Bazoum has been removed from power.

Reading from a statement, Colonel Amadou Abdramane, seated and flanked by nine other officers, said 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.”

The announcement came hours after the president was held in the presidential palace.

Abdramane said Niger’s borders are closed, a nationwide curfew declared, and all institutions of the republic are suspended.

The soldiers warned against any foreign intervention, adding that they will respect Bazoum’s wellbeing.

The military takeover, which marks the seventh coup in the West and Central Africa region since 2020, could further complicate Western efforts to help countries in the Sahel region fight a jihadist insurgency that has spread from Mali over the past decade.

Early on Wednesday presidential guards, headed by General Omar Tchiani, took over the presidency, prompting regional leaders to organise a swift mediation mission to try to prevent a coup.

The president of neighbouring Benin, Patrice Talon, flew into Niger on Wednesday afternoon to assess the situation after meeting with Nigerian President and ECOWAS Chairman Bola Tinubu.

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“All means will be used, if necessary, to restore constitutional order in Niger, but the ideal would be for everything to be done in peace and harmony,” Talon told reporters in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

Land-locked Niger, a former French colony, has become a pivotal ally for Western powers seeking to help fight the insurgencies, but they are facing growing acrimony from the new juntas in charge in Mali and Burkina Faso.

Niger is also a key ally of the European Union in the fight against irregular migration from sub-Saharan Africa.

France moved troops to Niger from Mali last year after its relations with interim authorities there soured. It has also withdrawn special forces from Burkina Faso amid similar tensions.

Bazoum’s election was the first democratic transition of power in a state that has witnessed four military coups since independence from France in 1960.

The United States says it has spent around $500 million since 2012 to help Niger boost its security. Germany announced in April that it would take part in a three-year European military mission aimed at improving the country’s military.

“Bazoum has been the West’s only hope in the Sahel region. France, the U.S. and the EU have spent much of their resources in the region to bolster Niger and its security forces,” said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel programme for Germany’s Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung think-tank.

He said a coup would create an opportunity for Russia and other actors to spread their influence in Niger.