Niger president defiant as military claims takeover

A likely coup in Niger is raising major questions about the future of the troubled Sahel region.

Soldiers in the landlocked West African country took to national television on Wednesday evening to announce that borders have been shut, the constitution dissolved and institutions suspended.

Army spokesperson Col Maj Amadou Abdramane sat at a table, with nine men in military uniform standing behind him, and said they had “decided to put an end to the regime you know”.

“This follows the declaration made in view of the security situation and poor economic and social governance,” he said.

Trump verdict is like ‘pouring gasoline on a fire that’s already burning’

---

Trump verdict a stunning end to a quintessentially New York legal tale

---

Robert De Niro’s raging at Trump outside courthouse was an extraordinary moment in American public life

---

Israel’s continuing war in Gaza complicates Egyptian balancing act

---

Mr Abdramane called the group, including himself, the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country. He emphasised that they are still committed to respecting all “commitments” made by Niger.

“We reassure the national and international community that the physical and moral integrity of the deposed authorities will be respected in accordance with the principle of human rights.”

Since early Wednesday, Niger’s president Mohamed Bazoum has reportedly been held captive by troops from his own presidential guard.

The 63-year-old was elected in 2021, in Niger’s first peaceful democratic transition of power since the country achieved independence from France in 1960.

On Thursday morning, Mr Bazoum defiantly posted on Twitter saying: “The hard-won achievements will be safeguarded. All Nigeriens who love democracy and freedom will see to it.”

A statement by the army high command later yesterday, signed by its chief, Gen Abdou Sidikou Issa, said it was backing the mutineers “to avoid bloodshed” and prevent infighting in the security forces.

Some Nigerien civilians welcomed the army’s actions.

“People are feeling very well because they are waiting [for this] this time [from a] long time ago, but today it has come,” said one man, who spoke to The Irish Times through WhatsApp messages from Niamey, Niger’s capital city, and asked not to be named. He said everything was peaceful there.

Mr Bazoum was “not a good president”, the man said, because “he did not make his promises”. Nigeriens care about “good management, healthcare, education, reduc[ing the] cost of living,” and security, he said. He believes democracy will be restored again to Niger “after this transition”.

Niger – which has a population of roughly 26 million people – remained a rare western ally in the troubled Sahel region, which has seen instability caused by Islamic insurgencies, climate change and extreme poverty.

Despite being one of the world’s poorest countries, it was previously perceived internationally as being a state of relative calm, compared to its direct neighbours.

There were coups in neighbouring Mali in 2020 and 2021, with the military rulers who took over moving closer to Russia and away from France.

Under pressure, France announced that it would withdraw its military from Mali in February 2022. Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov visited Mali this year, making a promise of further military assistance.

Burkina Faso had two coups last year. The second, in September, saw Ibrahim Traoré (35) come to power. In May, he hailed Russia as a key strategic ally, months after French troops were ordered to leave there too.

Earlier this year in Niger’s capital Niamey, The Irish Times interviewed Abdoulaye Seydou, the co-ordinator of M62, a coalition group of civil society organisations which was formed last year with the goal of forcing France’s military forces out of the country.

Mr Seydou said that the soaring cost of living – amid beliefs that France was exploiting the country and its citizens – was a key reason why they wanted France’s military to leave. He denied it had anything to do with Russia. “We are fighting for Niger’s sovereignty, so we are not with any foreign country partners,” he said.

The day after his Irish Times interview, Mr Seydou was arrested. In April, he was sentenced to nine months in prison for “production and dissemination of data likely to disturb public order”, according to the International Federation for Human Rights.