Soldiers in the Niger Republic announce a coup and close borders
Soldiers from the Niger Republic have said that President Mohamed Bazoum has been removed from office.
Late on Wednesday night, colonel-major Amadou Abdramane announced the news on television.
Abdramane, who was surrounded by other troops, declared, “We, the defence and security forces… have decided to put an end to the regime of President Bazoum.”
He continued by saying that they had locked the nation’s borders, suspended all institutions, and abolished the constitution.
Bazoum has reportedly been kept hostage by members of the presidential guard.
The presidential palace was reportedly heavily guarded by the military, and the president was barred from entering either his office or home.
Since its liberation from France in 1960, the unsteady West African nation has experienced five coups in addition to countless coup attempts.
Muhammadu Buhari, a former president of Nigeria, had called the most recent coup attempt in 2021 “utterly naive, despicable, and unacceptable.”
Days before Bazoum was sworn in, the army attempted to capture the presidential palace.
Numerous nations, organizations, and embassies have shown their solidarity in response to the events in Niger.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), of which President Bola Tinubu is also the chair, earlier declared that the organization would not put up with actions that threatened regional democracy.
President Patrice Talon of the Benin Republic was sent to the nation by ECOWAS shortly after he made his statement.
The head of the African Union (AU), Moussa Mahamat, has voiced “strong” disapproval with the situation in Niger.
Mahamat alleged that military personnel abandoned their republican duty and pleaded with them to swiftly change their minds.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, declared that he is standing strongly by Bazoum and expressing Washington’s “unwavering support” for the president who is in trouble.
The UN’s secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, added that he had spoken with the president and had given him the organization’s complete support.
