Coup in Niger: Soldiers claim to have overthrown President Bazoum | DW News

Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum has been removed from power, according to reports from the AFP and Reuters news agencies, citing a statement from a group of soldiers made on national television.

"We, the defence and security forces... have decided to put an end to the regime" of President Bazoum, said Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane, flanked by nine other uniformed soldiers in the address. Reading from a statement, the soldiers said, "The country's borders are closed and a nationwide curfew declared." Earlier on Wednesday, the group had blocked off the presidential palace in the Nigerien capital, Niamey. According to comments made officially and unofficially from President Mohamed Bazoum's office, a contingent of the presidential guard had been trying to detain Bazoum inside the residence.

Security sources in the president's office spoke to several news agencies, with one telling AFP that elite troops had suffered a "fit of temper" and that "talks" were underway looking to defuse the situation. Soon after, Niger's presidency issued a pair of tweets, the first of which it soon deleted. The second said that elements of the presidential guard were in effective revolt but that the bulk of the armed forces remained loyal. "The president of the republic and his family are doing well," the publication that remained online said. "The army and the national guard are ready to attack the elements of the GP [presidential guard] involved in this fit of temper if they do not return to better feelings." A later tweet, published at around 0500 GMT, said: "The hard-won gains will be safeguarded. All democracy- and freedom-loving Nigeriens will see to it." The country's Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou called on all "democrats and patriots" to make this "perilous adventure" a failure.

He told France24 that the elected government was the only "legal and legitimate power is the one exercised by the elected president of Niger." He also added that the detained president was in "good health." An AFP journalist in Niamey reported that the area around the presidential complex was sealed off on Wednesday, but also reported no abnormal signs of military activity or sounds of gunfire in the area. Traffic appeared normal.

The West African ECOWAS group of countries, currently chaired by Nigeria, issued a communique soon after the news broke saying it reacted with "shock and consternation" to the news of an "attempted coup d'Etat."

"ECOWAS condemns in the strongest possible terms the attempt to seize power by force and calls on the coup plotters to free the democratically elected President of the Republic immediately and without any condition," the statement, signed by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, said.

"ECOWAS and the international community will hold all those involved in the plot responsible for the security and safety of the President, his family, members of the government and the general public." The United States also condemned the developments and called for Bazoum's release. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed support for Bazoum and said he had spoken to him after his department said earlier that it had been "gravely concerned about the developments in Niger."

"The US condemns efforts to subvert Niger’s constitutional order by force, and underscores that our partnership depends on the continuation of democratic governance," Blinken said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

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