A group of soldiers went on air on state television late on Wednesday night to confirm the coup d’etat in the Niger Republic and the removal of the country’s president, Mohamed Bazoum, from power.
The spokesman for the group, Colonel Amadou Abdramane, dressed in a blue uniform and surrounded by nine other officers in different military fatigues, said the country’s defence and security forces had decided to “put an end to the regime due to the deteriorating security situation and bad governance”.
The Nigerien coup, if successful, would be the latest in a wave of military overthrows that have toppled several democratically elected governments in the region. It is not yet clear if there are underlying political tussles that have instigated the putsch. According to earlier reports by some sources in Niamey before the television broadcast, the attempted coup against president Bazoum was due to his government’s failure to address the poor living conditions, poor salaries and other welfare services of soldiers, including the presidential guards.
The sources claimed that the head of the presidential guard, General Tchiany had complained to the president several times but no action was taken. They also claim that president Bazoum wanted to remove General Tchiany as the head of the presidential Palace despite his vast experience manning that position since 2011.
Some other sources say there are possibilities that the Nigerien coup may be the knock-on effect of a wave of political resistance against France and the west and a push for alliance with Russia. However, a TV interview in which Bazoum expressed the intention to create a new currency outside the French controlled CFA has been cited by some as proof that the coup may have the fingerprints of Paris.
This position may be implausible, considering that Bazoum had consistently voiced his support for western presence in his country. The Financial Times (FT) reports that, in an interview in May, Bazoum ‘defended France’s presence’. The report added that he had ‘also paraded his pro-democracy credentials and progressive attitudes on women’s rights and education to court western support, though these were not always popular domestically’. The medium also noted that ‘Bazoum was one of several African leaders who decided not to attend Vladimir Putin’s Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg this week’.
Bazoum was regarded as an important ally of the west in the fight against a spreading jihadist insurgency in the Sahel region and had welcomed French troops and kept close ties with the United States of America, which maintained troops in the country under its Operation Juniper Shield, formerly known as Operation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara (OEF-TS).
The FT also quoted a specialist on the Sahel region at the Chatham House think-tank, Paul Melly, as saying that ‘under Bazoum, the army had received money, equipment and training from Europe and the US, and had been far more effective at keeping the jihadi insurgency at bay than counterparts in Mali or Burkina Faso’.
Initial reports had suggested that there was a major split within the armed forces on the support of the coup. The army had earlier condemned the coup, saying it stood by the president and by “legality” and was ready to fight the presidential guard if it did not release the president.
With the announcement by the group of officers, it is uncertain if a consensus has been reached. It was not clear whether the coup leaders had the support of all the armed forces. Abdramane said on television that the army had suspended the constitution, shut the international airport and declared a curfew. He said the military was keeping Bazoum safe, and warned foreign powers not to intervene.
The coup against Bazoum has been carried out against the backdrop of calls by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for an end to military takeovers in the region, threatening to impose punitive sanctions on any group that disrupts democracy.
