If the military government in Niger permits Bazoum’s health to deteriorate while he is under house arrest, “grave consequences” would result, according to President Bola Tinubu.
According to Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, the new prime minister of Niger, the generals who deposed President Mohamed Bazoum in a coup on July 26 won’t hurt him, he told The New York Times on Friday.
Zeine, the most senior civilian chosen by the military chiefs, told the newspaper in an interview from Dakar that nothing would happen to ousted President Mohamed Bazoum because there is no tradition of violence in Niger.
The coup leaders in Niger, according to Zeine, likewise had no plans to work with Russia or the Wagner group’s Kremlin-backed mercenaries.
According to the New York Times, the coup leaders threatened to assassinate Bazoum if other African nations carried out their plan to overthrow him militarily. They had cut off water and electricity to his home, where he has been imprisoned since being overthrown.
A European Union official claimed that earlier on Friday, President Bola Tinubu warned that there would be “grave consequences” if the military government of Niger permitted Bazoum’s health to deteriorate while he was under house arrest.
Reporters at the UN offices in New York questioned a representative for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about Bazoum’s condition and whether he was even still alive.
“I’ve talked to someone who frequently communicates with him. As far as we are aware, he is still alive, and we have no reason to believe otherwise. Stephane Dujarric stated, “So far as I know, he is still alive.
Zeine, who was chosen prime minister of Niger on August 7, was also questioned by the Times over the deployment of 1,100 American forces and 1,500 French soldiers engaged in counterterrorism operations alongside the local army against extremists.
The White House’s “extremely reasonable position” in attempting to resolve the crisis through diplomacy rather than force was praised by Zeine, a French-trained economist who previously served as finance minister. Zeine stated that “the moment will come to review” such military alliances.
AFP
