The West African nation of Niger has seen its elected government toppled in a military coup.
On Wednesday, the elite Presidential Guard seized President Mohamed Bazoum and blocked access to key facilities in the capital, Niamey. They announced that the functioning of ‘all institutions’ would be suspended, and they sealed borders and imposed a curfew.
Explaining the action, Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane made a televised address, in which he said: ‘This follows the continued deterioration of the security situation, poor economic and social governance.’
President Bazoum was elected two years ago, in a rare peaceful transfer of power in Niger. The country faces grinding poverty and underdevelopment as well as an Islamist insurgency.
A social media comment from Bazoum’s office disputed that the coup had succeeded, claiming the Presidential Guard had had a ‘fit of temper’, but that the rest of the armed forces stood behind the government. The President and his family were unharmed.
However, the chief of the army high command, General Abdou Sidikou Issa, indicated that the army would not oppose the coup, in order to avoid more violence and disorder.
It is not clear where Bazoum is at present.
The coup has been condemned by regional and continental organisations, as well as by some countries outside Africa.
Niger is regarded as being geopolitically tilted towards the West and has received extensive support from France and the United States, particularly in its struggle with the insurgency.