Niger: coup? The West African nation's president said in a statement that was made public by local media in the past few hours that on Wednesday morning, members of the Presidential Guard established an anti-republican movement.
The military was surrounding President Mohamed Bazoum within the presidential mansion when he found himself in the sights of the assailants. The rebels did, however, make fruitless attempts to enlist the help of the National Guard and the National Armed Forces, the administration claims. The President of the Republic and his family are also said to be in good health.
The press release would eventually vanish from the official pages, though. The interior minister and President Bazoum, who was the goal of the rebels, were purportedly abducted by troops in a coup orchestrated by General Omar Tchiani, the head of the Presidential Guard. It appears that President Bazoum had Tchiani's replacement in mind.
Economic Community of West African States should strongly denounce this effort to usurp power by force and demand that those responsible free the democratically elected President of the Republic immediately and without conditions.
At the conclusion of the negotiations, the Presidential Guard refused to release the president, and the army gave him an ultimatum, according to a source close to the presidency contacted by AFP. Instead, a different source said that the coup attempt was bound to fail. According to further sources, if the presidential guard persists in resisting the request to arrest the president, the military is prepared to strike.
Niger has been headed by President Mohamed Bazoum since April 2021. France is particularly interested in the West African nation's uranium reserves, which are utilized in nuclear energy and border Algeria and Libya to the north.
Italy joins France in taking part in the military operation in the Sahel region. In any event, there has always been anti-French sentiment in that region, which is prone to coups, despite President Bazoum's reputation as a pro-Western and pro-French leader. Additionally, the Wagner company's Russian contingent is present in that region of Africa.
Niger has seen four coups since becoming independent from France in 1960. Two recent attempts were made: one in 2021, two days before Bazoum entered office, which resulted in numerous persons being arrested, and another in 2022, when Bazoum was in Turkey.
