Hours after he was held in the presidential palace, a group of soldiers announced the sack of President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger on the West African nation’s national television late on Wednesday.
Colonel Amadou Abdramane, seated and flanked by nine other officers, pronounced Bazoum’s removal in a statement.
Citing what he termed deteriorating security situation and bad governance, Colonel Abdramane said defence and security forces decided to put an end to the regime.
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 while pledging 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.
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 It has also withdrawn special forces from Burkina Faso amid similar tensions.
The members of the elite Presidential Guard, who in turn were given an “ultimatum” by the army, had earlier held President Bazoum on Wednesday.
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Although the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) chaired by President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria had condemned what it called an “attempted coup” and called on the “plotters” to release Bazoum immediately and without condition.
A close ally of France, Bazoum was elected in 2021, taking the helm of a country mired in poverty and burdened by a history of chronic instability.
Members of the guard on Wednesday morning sealed off access to the president’s residence and offices, and after talks broke down “refused to release the president,” the presidential source said.
“The army has given them an ultimatum,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
In a message on Twitter, which is being rebranded as X, the president’s office said “elements of the Presidential Guard (PG) had a fit of temper… (and) tried unsuccessfully to gain the support of the national armed forces and the national guard.”
“The army and national guard are ready to attack the elements of the PG who are involved in this fit of temper if they do not return to a better disposition,” the presidency said.
The source said the president and his family are well while declaring that the reason for the guards’ anger was not disclosed.
Access was blocked off to the presidential complex in Niamey, although there was no abnormal military deployment or sounds of gunfire in the area, and traffic was normal, an AFP journalist saw.
In a statement issued from Nigeria, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) condemned what it called an “attempted coup d’Etat” against a democratically-elected leader.
The bloc and the international community at large will hold all those involved to be responsible for the safety of Bazoum, his family, members of the government and public, it warned.
