Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum on Thursday defiantly vowed to protect “hard-won” democratic gains after he was detained by elite troops who declared they had taken power in the troubled West African nation.
Bazoum was confined in Niamey on Wednesday by members of his presidential guard, who hours later announced that “all institutions” in the country would be suspended, the borders closed and a night-time curfew imposed.
Amid fierce condemnation from African and international organisations and Niger’s Western allies, Bazoum has stood his ground.
“The hard-won gains will be safeguarded,” Bazoum said on Twitter, which is being rebranded as ‘X’.
“All Nigeriens who love democracy and freedom would want this”.
Niger Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou said the country’s “legal and legitimate power” was the one exercised by its elected president.
He told the France24 TV channel that Bazoum was “in good health”.
There had been a “coup bid” but “the whole of the army was not involved,” he stressed.
“We ask all the fractious soldiers to return to their ranks,” he said. “Everything can be achieved through dialogue but the institutions of the republic must function.”
The president of neighbouring Benin, Patrice Talon, was heading to Niamey Thursday for mediation efforts, the head of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said.
Coup-prone
The landlocked Sahel state is one of the poorest and most unstable countries in the world.
It has experienced four coups since gaining independence from France in 1960, as well as numerous other attempts — including two previously against Mohamed Bazoum.
Mohamed Bazoum, 63, is one of a dwindling group of pro-Western leaders in the Sahel, where a rampaging jihadist insurgency has triggered coups against elected presidents in Mali and Burkina Faso.
Their juntas, taking a nationalist stance, have forced out French troops and in the case of Mali have woven a close alliance with Russia.
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