Niger: Soldiers Announce Coup on National TV

Facts

• A day after members of Niger's presidential guard captured Pres. Mohamed Bazoum, soldiers announced on Thursday that the state has undergone a military coup on national TV.¹
• While Pres. Bazoum and Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou had urged democratic forces in Niger to resist the coup, a statement on Thursday by Niger's army declared its support for the insurrection, claiming its priority was avoiding conflict "that could create a bloodbath and affect the security of the population."²
• Colonel Amadou Abdramane, alongside nine other military personnel, stated that the coup had "put an end to the regime that you know due to the deteriorating security situation and bad governance." He announced that the state's borders were closed, all institutions were suspended, and a national curfew had been imposed.³
• Bazoum was elected as Niger's president in 2021 during its first democratic transfer of power since it gained independence from France in 1960. It's believed that on Wednesday morning, the presidential guard surrounded and detained Bazoum and his wife at his house.⁴
• US Sec. of State, Antony Blinken, has called for the "immediate release" of Bazoum while reaffirming America's support for the "democratically elected president," as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' spokesperson condemned the "unconstitutional change in government."⁵
• Niger has been viewed as a key West African state by the West due to the influence of jihadist groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group in the Sahel region. According to Massoudou, Bazoum remains in "good health" and his "physical integrity has not been threatened."⁶

Sources: ¹BBC News, ²Reuters, ³Guardian, ⁴Independent, ⁵Al Jazeera, and ⁶Africa News.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Toronto Star. With a plethora of West African nations becoming destabilized in recent years — in tandem with the presence of Islamic terrorists and even the Wagner Group operating in the Sahel — Niger's coup is another worrying sign of instability in the region. Niger's fall leaves the West with a dwindling list of partners capable of helping battle extremists in West Africa.
• Narrative B, as provided by Guardian. Despite the attempted coup, Bazoum has defiantly vowed to protect the hard-won democratic gains made by the country in recent years. Alongside global condemnation, Bazoum is holding his ground as he attempts to create a better life for one of the poorest and most coup-prone states in the world. The president has survived an attempted coup before, and he may be able to do so again.