Niger’s presidency said the West African nation’s leader is “doing well” after soldiers took control of the presidential palace and President Mohamed Bazoum’s official residence.
(Bloomberg) — Niger’s presidency said the West African nation’s leader is “doing well” after soldiers took control of the presidential palace and President Mohamed Bazoum’s official residence.
Bazzoum has been detained by “coup plotters” who are attempting to seize power by force, the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The president of the republic and his family are doing well,” the presidency said in a brief statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. An earlier statement, in which it said that elements of the Presidential Guard engaged in an “anti-Republican” movement failed in their attempt to obtain the support of the army and the National Guard, was subsequently deleted.
Niger is a linchpin in the fight against jihadists and other armed groups in West Africa’s Sahel region, at the southern fringe of the Sahara Desert. France has deployed troops, its largest military operation abroad, while the US has a $110 million drone base in the central city of Agadez.
The country is among the world’s biggest uranium producers, according to the World Nuclear Association. It produced 2,020 tons of the metal last year. Most of its output is exported to France, according to the WNA’s website.
One of the world’s poorest countries, Niger has been ruled by Bazoum since April 2021. The nation’s security forces previously thwarted an attempted military takeover in March 2021, when an army unit tried to seize the presidential palace.
The Ecowas bloc urged Bazoum’s captors to “free the democratically elected president of the republic immediately and without any condition,” according to its statement.
“Ecowas and the international community will hold all those involved in the plot responsible for the security and safety of the president, his family, members of the government and the general public,” it said.
There have been five successful coups since 2020 in West Africa, a region wracked by the growing influence of violent extremists and food insecurity brought about by climate change.
The Economic Community of West African States condemned what it said was an attempt to seize power by force and called on the coup plotters to free the Bazoum immediately and without any condition, the 15-nation bloc said in a statement.
Read more: West Africa’s Fifth Coup in Two Years Tests Regional Bloc
–With assistance from Moses Mozart Dzawu.
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