Wed 26 July 2023:
Niger’s President, Mohamed Bazoum, is being held by presidential guards at the city’s presidential palace, which has been surrounded by military vehicles since Wednesday morning, Reuters reported.
According to presidency and security officials, ministries next to the palace have also been blocked off, and personnel inside the palace have been unable to reach their offices. But there was calm in the capital, Niamey.
It was unclear whether Bazoum was inside or what was going on, but Niger’s presidency confirmed in a statement on Wednesday that Bazoum and his family were safe.
The presidency added that some members of the presidential guard had started an “anti-republican” movement “in vain” and that the army was ready to attack them if they did not come to their senses.
The 2021 election that saw Bazoum elected president marked the first democratic transfer of power in a country that has experienced four military takeovers since gaining independence from France in 1960.
Niger is an important ally for Western powers aiming to back local soldiers battling a conflict that began in Mali in 2012 and has extended to neighboring nations such as Burkina Faso and the southern coastal states.
Since 2020, there have been four military takeovers in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso.
A coup attempt was also foiled in Niger in March 2021, when a military unit attempted to capture the presidential palace only days before Bazoum, who had just been elected, was to be inaugurated in.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
______________________________________________________________
FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:
TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent
FACEBOOK (CLICK HERE)
https://web.facebook.com/ipindependent
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
