Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum presents his national statement as part of the World Leaders' Summit of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland in 2021.YVES HERMAN/AFP/Getty Images
Niger President Mohamed Bazoum remained held in the presidential palace on Thursday afternoon and it was unclear who had taken charge of the country, after soldiers on Wednesday evening declared a military coup.
France, the country’s former colonial power, and the West African regional bloc ECOWAS called for Bazoum’s immediate release and a return to constitutional order. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said that constitutional order should be restored.
“We support regional efforts to find an urgent way out of the crisis that respects Niger’s democratic framework and enables the immediate restoration of civilian authority,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat said he had spoken on Thursday with Bazoum and that the president was “fine”, the Russian news agency RIA reported.
Niger’s coup is the seventh in West and Central Africa since 2020 and could have grave consequences for democratic progress and the fight against an insurgency by jihadist militants in the region, where Niger is a key Western ally.
Supporters of the coup ransacked and set fire to the headquarters of the ruling party in Niamey, the capital, on Thursday after the army command declared its backing for the takeover carried out by soldiers of the presidential guard.
Plumes of black smoke billowed from the building, a Reuters reporter said, after hundreds of supporters of the coup who had gathered in front of the National Assembly moved toward the building. Police dispersed them with volleys of tear gas.
The crowd played pro-army music. Some waved Russian flags and chanted anti-French slogans, echoing a growing wave of resentment toward former colonial power France and its influence in the Sahel region. Niger gained independence from France in 1960.
State TV showed a statement from the interior ministry condemning acts of vandalism and banning demonstrations until further notice.
“We have always believed in the army’s actions and this time we are with them. For us this is joy,” said Boubacar Hamidou, a human-rights activist who was among the crowd outside parliament.
In a statement signed by its chief of staff, the army said it had “decided to adhere to the ... declaration” made by soldiers who announced in a late night televised address that they had stripped Bazoum of power.
The army said its priority was to avoid destabilizing the country and it needed to “preserve the physical integrity” of the president and his family and avoid “a deadly confrontation ... that could create a bloodbath and affect the security of the population”.
It was not immediately clear who would take over from Bazoum. The presidential guard, which is drawn from the armed forces and usually protects the president and his entourage, is headed by General Omar Tchiani.
Juntas in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso have grown closer to Russia since they took charge, in 2020 and 2022, respectively, and cut ties with traditional Western allies.
The United States has not seen any credible indications of involvement by Russia, or the Russian Wagner Group private army, in the coup in Niger, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Thursday.
Photos purporting to show Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin meeting African officials on the sidelines of a Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg surfaced on the Telegram app on Thursday. Reuters was unable to immediately verify when and where they had been taken.
Since relations with their military governments soured, prompting foreign troop withdrawals, Niger’s role had become increasingly important for Western powers helping fight a violent insurgency in the region. France moved troops to Niger from Mali last year.
Colonel Amadou Abdramane, who announced the coup on state television flanked by nine other officers on Wednesday, said defence and security forces had acted in response to deteriorating security and bad governance.
Insecurity has remained a problem since Bazoum was elected in 2021, as a jihadist insurgency that took root in Mali in 2012 gained ground, killing thousands and displacing over 6 million across the Sahel.
“We hope the army coming to power will resolve the security crisis. Today terrorism has uprooted so many villages ... our children have become widows and our grandchildren orphans,” said Hadjia Aiss, an elderly woman who was among the crowd outside parliament.
France landed a military aircraft in Niger on Thursday morning despite an airspace closure imposed overnight, Abdramane, a member of the air force, said.
There was no immediate comment from the French foreign and defence ministries.
Earlier, as Western officials said the status of Niger’s coup attempt was unclear, Bazoum and Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou urged democratic forces in the country to resist the power grab.
The United Nations said in a statement it was putting its humanitarian operations on hold in the country, which was already facing escalating violence, socio-economic challenges and climate change.
The takeover started on Wednesday, when some guards at the presidential palace in Niamey cut it off, blocking the president inside.
Abdramane announced on Thursday that all activities of political parties were suspended until further notice.
Bazoum, in a social media post on Thursday morning, vowed to protect “hard-won” democratic gains.