After a days of uncertainty in Niger, the commander of country’s presidential guard claimed the leadership of the West African country Friday in a televised address after ousting Mohamed Bazoum, the country’s democratically elected president.
Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, who goes by the first name, Omar, said on state television Friday, “We have decided to intervene and seize our responsibilities” in asserting power over the country.
His address came after anti-coup demonstrators had clashed with security forces in Niamey, the capital, and the military putschists subsequently declared a nationwide curfew, announcing that they would also shutter the country’s borders.
Here’s what to know about the takeover
What happened in Niger? Members of the country’s Presidential Guard encircled the president’s palace in Niamey on Wednesday morning and held Mr. Bazoum hostage. For hours, an anxious country waited to see whether the crisis would be resolved quietly, with little clear information about either the rebels’ identities or whether the president was safe.
Hundreds of demonstrators against the coup briefly took to the streets of Niamey on Wednesday afternoon to demand Mr. Bazoum’s release before being violently dispersed by security forces.
That night, the mutineers declared that they had “put an end to the regime.”
Col. Amadou Abdramane, a spokesman for those who carried out the coup, read out a printed statement justifying their actions as a response to “the deteriorating security situation and bad social and economic governance.” Niger faces several Islamist insurgencies in its southern region, and people across the country have been feeling the strain from the rising cost of living.
Understand the Military Coup in Niger
A takeover. Military officers in the West African nation of Niger announced on July 26 that they had ousted the country’s president, throwing into uncertainty the future of one of the West’s few reliable partners in a region marred by coups and insecurity. Here is what to know:
How did the coup unfold? Members of the country’s presidential guard encircled the president’s palace in Niamey, Niger’s capital, and detained Mohamed Bazoum, the country’s president. A group of army officials representing different branches of the military later declared on national television that they had “put an end to the regime” of Bazoum and a general was announced as the head of the transitional leadership.
How have people in Niger reacted? Hundreds briefly demonstrated in the streets of Niamey to demand Bazoum’s release before being violently dispersed by security forces. The Nigerien government called on the public to reject the takeover, but the military officers who appeared on television said that it was necessary to avoid strife between branches of the country’s security forces.
What could the events mean for Niger? A successful coup could further destabilize a poor country and nascent democracy. Bazoum became president in 2021, taking the reins in Niger’s first peaceful, democratic transition since it gained independence from France in 1960 and ending a period during which it experienced four military coups. The events could also affect dynamics in a region plagued by violent militants, poverty and coups.
Colonel Abdramane was flanked by the deputy military chief of staff and senior members of the National Guard and Presidential Guard. And on Thursday, the country’s military appeared to formally back the takeover, saying that it was necessary to avoid strife between branches of the country’s security forces .
What could the events mean for the region? The developments could deal a fatal blow to Niger’s nascent democracy.
The country has been subjected to four military coups since gaining independence from France in 1960. Mr. Bazoum, president since 2021, had taken the reins in Niger’s first peaceful, democratic transition since independence — though elements in the military also attempted an unsuccessful takeover just two days before his swearing-in.
Mr. Bazoum had recently begun making changes in the ranks, pushing out the army chief of staff and forcing some other top generals into retirement, moves that may have antagonized the military, said Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim, an expert in the stretch of Africa known as the Sahel, which includes Niger, for the International Crisis Group.
But the military was also exploiting growing Nigerien public “disenchantment” with the country’s democratic experiment, Mr. Ibrahim said. Mr. Bazoum “had achievements, but when you compare the achievements to people’s expectations, they were much higher,” he added.
The events could also affect dynamics in the region, which has been marred by insurgencies, aging dictators and military coups.
Niger’s U.S.-backed government has been a critical ally for Western countries seeking to quash Islamist insurgencies in the Sahel. Over 1,100 American troops are based in Niger.
Mr. Bazoum’s alignment with France had drawn the ire of some in the military who opposed the presence of Western forces in the country, Mr. Ibrahim said.
At least three other countries in West Africa — Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali — have had military coups since 2020. Western observers fear that a military junta in Niger could mimic events in neighboring Mali, whose putschists eventually expelled a United Nations peacekeeping force, while building close ties with Russia’s Wagner mercenaries.
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