Niger’s President, Mohamed Bazoum, posted a defiant message on Twitter after soldiers announced a coup in the West African country overnight.
Trouble started early Wednesday when troops from the presidential guard kidnapped him.
His foreign minister has stated that the takeover does not have the support of the entire military, but the army chief has now stated that he supports the junta.
Mr. Bazoum is an important Western ally in the fight against Islamist extremists.
Both the United States and France maintain military bases in the uranium-rich country and have criticised the coup.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Mr Bazoum, expressing Washington’s “unwavering support,” and the United Nations and the European Union have both demanded that the president be released immediately.
On Thursday morning, the 64-year-old Niger president, who was elected two years ago, took to Twitter to say, “The hard-won achievements will be safeguarded.” All Nigerians who value democracy and freedom will take care of it.”
Niamey, the capital, is currently empty, but this is largely due to the heavy rain that has fallen all morning.
Even a march planned by supporters of the takeover was cancelled due to the rain.
People in Niger, meanwhile, are deeply split by the turn of events.
Some are astonished and angered, and hundreds of the president’s followers disobeyed the soldiers on Wednesday, taking to the streets to demand that the military return to the barracks.
They dispersed after the only gunfire heard in this bloodless takeover of power was warning shots.
They have stated that they will not accept the coup, but it is unclear how they will do so. For the time being, no more street protests have been called.
Others have praised the military’s actions, blaming the former ruling party of corruption and failing to do enough to strengthen security and bring the long-running Islamist insurgency to an end.
In recent years, two bordering nations, Mali and Burkina Faso, have undergone coups precipitated by Islamist uprisings.
After falling out with France, the old colonial power that formerly dominated Niger, the current military commanders in both nations have grown closer to Russia.
This coup is bad news for French and Western efforts to restore stability to the Sahel region of West Africa. When adjacent Mali elected to work with Russia’s Wagner Group rather than the French, Paris relocated its regional headquarters to Niger.
This coup, even if it is short-lived, has demonstrated that even Niger cannot be relied on to be a permanent safe haven. Western influence in the region is dwindling like a dry lake in the summer.
Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic (CAR), and Mali have all determined that working with Russia’s vicious Wagner mercenaries is preferable to working with any Western force. Wagner’s principal interests in Africa appear to be enriching themselves and strengthening the Kremlin’s power rather than pursuing Western aims of fostering greater government.
This is fantastic news for the region’s two biggest insurgent groups, the so-called Islamic State and al-Qaeda. They thrive on insecurity, weak governance, and local government anger. As a result, a coup in Niger is likely to exacerbate efforts to restrain them.
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Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou of Niger has urged the populace to fight the coup.
In an interview with France24, he stated that the issue might still be handled through discussion and that envoys dispatched from neighbouring Nigeria were meeting with military officials.
Patrice Talon, President of Benin, is also on a mediation mission on behalf of the West African regional group, Ecowas.
For the time being, it is unclear who is in charge.
A spokesman, Col Maj Amadou Abdramane, declared the takeover, citing the deteriorating security situation as well as “poor economic and social governance.”
For the time being, there is no evidence of Russian involvement in this coup or influence in Niger.
Since its independence from France in 1960, the huge arid country on the border of the Sahara desert has suffered four coups, as well as countless attempted coups.
