APA – Niamey (Niger) Niger’s putschists have taken responsibility for the physical well being of the deposed President Mohamed Bazoum and members of his government.
It was supposed to be a “mood swing” by a few members of the presidential guard led by General Omar Tchiani.
In the end, it was a coup by the defense and security forces, the 5th since independence in 1960.
On Wednesday evening, a group of soldiers “gathered around the ‘Conseil National pour la Sauvegarde de la Patrie’ (National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP),” declared on state television (ORTN) also known as Tele Sahel, that they had “decided to put an end to the regime you know.”
“This follows the continuing deterioration of the security situation and poor economic and social governance,” their spokesman, Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane explained.
The orchestrators of the coup against Mohamed Bazoum then announced the suspension of all the institutions of the republic and the introduction of a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. until further notice.
They also decided to close land and air borders until the situation had been re-established. They “reassured the national and international community of the physical and moral integrity of the deposed authorities, in accordance with the principles of human rights.”
Finally, they invited external partners to refrain from any interference.
While the identity of the CNSP president remains a mystery for the moment, it would appear that the coupists have succeeded in rallying a significant section of the defense and security forces to their cause.
The video shows high ranking officers such as Generals Mohamed Toumba and Moussa Salaou Barmou.
This is the fourth coup recorded within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) since August 18, 2020, when colonels seized power in Bamako, Mali, deposing President Ibrahim Boubacar
Keita (IBK).
In September 2021, Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya overthrew President Alpha Conde in Guinea.
In Burkina, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Henri Damiba ousted President Roch Kabore in January 2022, before
being ousted in turn eight months later by a young junior officer, Captain Ibrahim Traore.
AC/fss/as/APA