Niger’s General Abdourahamane Tiani declares himself leader after coup

Tiani, the head of the Presidential Guard, has been named “president of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland”, a statement said. 

Appearing on state television, the general said soldiers had seized power due to the deteriorating security situation in the Sahel country. 

The general said that while Niger’s elected President Mohamed Bazoum had sought to convince people that “all is going well … the harsh reality (is) a pile of dead, displaced, humiliation and frustration”. 

Palace surrounded

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“The security approach today has not brought security to the country despite heavy sacrifices,” he said. 

Armed forces chief General Abdou Sidikou Issa had on Thursday swung his weight behind the putschists saying it was “in order to avoid a deadly confrontation”. 

A coalition of parties opposed to Bazoum called for a show of support Friday for the “motivations” of the putschists “while disapproving of all change by force”. 

Bazoum has been detained by the putschists since Wednesday morning. 

‘Illegitimate and profoundly dangerous’ 

French President Emmanuel Macron will on Saturday chair a defence meeting on the coup in Niger, the French presidency said late on Friday.

Macron earlier on Friday described the coup as “dangerous” for the region as Western powers scrambled to preserve a key ally in the insurgent-stricken Sahel. 

“This coup is completely illegitimate and profoundly dangerous, for Nigeriens, for Niger and for the whole region,” Macron said. 

Macron said he had spoken to Bazoum, who is being held in his palace, and called for him to be reinstated. 

The French president also said that Bazoum is in good health.

The French foreign ministry said Friday that France does not recognise the leaders of the putsch who claim to have seized power.

Bazoum, “democratically elected by the people of Niger, is the only president of the Republic of Niger”, it said in a statement. “France does not recognise the authorities resulting from the putsch led by General (Abdourahamane) Tiani.”

‘Setback for Africa’

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will meet Sunday in the Nigerian capital Abuja to discuss the military coup in Niger, its President Bola Tinubu announced.

ECOWAS has demanded Bazoum’s “immediate release”, saying he “remains the legitimate and legal President of Niger”. 

The European Union on Friday threatened to cut aid to Niger following the military coup. “Any breakdown in the constitutional order will have consequences for cooperation between the EU and Niger, including the immediate suspension of all budgetary support,” a statement from the 27-nation bloc said.

Kenyan President William Ruto on Friday called the army takeover “a serious setback” for Africa.

“On Wednesday Africa suffered a serious setback in its democratic gains as the aspirations of the people of Niger for constitutional democracy were subverted by an unconstitutional change of government that deposed Mohamed Bazoum, a democratically elected president,” Ruto said in a video message.

Ecowas condemns coup

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US responds

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered Niger’s ousted leader Bazoum Washington’s steadfast support, and said that those detaining him were risking “hundreds of millions of dollars of assistance” to the country, the State Department said Friday.

Blinken, who was wrapping up a multination Pacific tour, called Bazoum for the second time in as many days to offer America’s “unflagging support”, department spokesman Matt Miller said in a statement.

In a separate call to former Nigerien president Mahamadou Issoufou, Blinken expressed concern over Bazoum’s ongoing detention.

He told Issoufou that he “regretted that those detaining Bazoum were threatening years of successful cooperation and hundreds of millions of dollars of assistance” to Niamey, Miller said.

Security challenges 

The coup plotters on Friday read a statement on national TV warning that “consequences that will flow” if any foreign military intervention takes place in Niger as a result of the military takeover.

Niger’s government had been seen by many in the international community as a bulwark against Islamist militancy in a vast, arid region that is beset by security challenges.  

63-year-old Bazoum is one of a dwindling group of elected presidents and pro-Western leaders in the Sahel, where a jihadist insurgency has triggered coups in Mali and Burkina Faso. 

Read more‘Last bastion of democracy in the Sahel’: Uncertainty in Niger prompts concern among allies

The putschists on Thursday urged “the population to remain calm” after young men ransacked Bazoum’s PNDS party headquarters, setting fire to vehicles. 

They had split off from a group of 1,000 people, mostly youngsters, who had demonstrated in the capital.

Some held Russian flags and chanted anti-French and pro-Moscow slogans. 

“We want the same thing as in Mali and Burkina Faso,” shouted 19-year-old student Alassane Alhousseini. 

“We want to take our destiny in our own hands.” 

French and UN troops were in recent years forced to withdraw from neighbouring Mali, but France still has 1,500 soldiers in Niger. Bazoum’s overthrow could put the future of their deployment in doubt. 

Sahel

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(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters)