Mohamed Bazoum, the deposed president of Niger, is with his family and is doing well, a cousin said AFP on Sunday, despite assertions this week by the nation’s new military rulers that he had sought to flee.
The family member stated, “He is at the presidential residence [in Niamey] with his wife and son and is doing well,” adding that he was permitted to make one phone call.
According to the source, his doctor was able to visit him and “bring him food.”
The military administration that deposed the democratically elected Bazoum on July 26 claimed on Thursday that they had prevented him from escaping from their custody.
According to the regime’s spokesman, Bazoum’s escape strategy comprised travelling to a refuge outside of the capital Niamey before taking off on helicopters “belonging to a foreign power” in the direction of Nigeria.
In addition, “the main actors and some of the accomplices” were detained, the regime said.
The group of attorneys defending Bazoum denied the “fabricated accusations” and said that he was being “held incommunicado”.
Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron appealed for his quick release as well as the releases of his wife and kid while expressing his “concern over the uncertain situation.”
Bazoum has refused to resign since being overthrown by the military in July and has been detained at his apartment in the centre of the presidential palace with his wife and son.
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Bazoum’s attorneys claimed last month that their client had brought a legal action against those responsible for his removal and made an appeal for the restoration of constitutional order before an ECOWAS court.
If diplomatic efforts to restore Bazoum to power are unsuccessful, ECOWAS has warned that it may intervene militarily in Niger.
Former colonial power France complied with the military rulers’ orders to evacuate its 1,500 troops by December 31. France was an ally of the overthrown president in the fight against Islamist organisations threatening Niger.
Prior to this, France withdrew its troops from Burkina Faso and Mali, both of which had just experienced coups.
