Another coup in Niger, Tinubu warns plotters

Niger presidential guards are holding President Mohamed Bazoum inside the presidential palace in the capital, which has been blocked off by military vehicles since Wednesday morning, security sources said.

The landlocked West African state is one of the most unstable nations in the world, experiencing four coups since independence from France in 1960 as well as numerous other attempts on power.

Access was sealed off both to Bazoum’s official home and offices in 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.

Bazoum, who was democratically elected in 2021, is a close ally of France.

The country’s last coup occurred in February 2010, overthrowing then President Mamadou Tandja.

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The rest of Niamey appeared calm, with normal morning traffic on the road and full internet access, a Reuters reporter said.

Previous coups in Burkina Faso and Mali were spurred in part by frustrations over authorities’ failure to stem an Islamist insurgency blighting the Sahel region, which includes Niger.

There was also a thwarted coup attempt in Niger in March 2021, when a military unit tried to seize the presidential palace days before Bazoum was due to be sworn in.

In 2021, the Guinean Special Forces arrested the president, Alpha Conde, and announced a nationwide curfew “until further notice” as well as the replacement of governors by the military.

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“We have decided, after having taken the president, to dissolve the constitution,” said a uniformed officer flanked by soldiers toting assault rifles in a video sent to AFP.

Meanwhile, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has warned coup plotters in neighbouring Republic of Niger of dire consequences for their action.

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In a statement signed by him, Tinubu described the blockade of the presidential palace in Niamey by soldiers as ‘unpleasant developments’.

He said the ECOWAS leadership will not accept any action that impedes the smooth functioning of legitimate authority in Niger or any part of West Africa.

“I wish to say that we are closely monitoring the situation and developments in Niger and we will do everything within our powers to ensure democracy is firmly planted, nurtured, well rooted and thrives in our region.

“I am in close consultation with other leaders in our region, and we shall protect our hard-earned democracy in line with the universally acceptable principle of constitutionalism.

“As the Chairperson of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, I state without equivocation that Nigeria stands firmly with the elected government in Niger and equally conveys the absolute resolve of leaders in our sub-region that we shall not waiver or flinch on our stand to defend and preserve constitutional order”.