Soldiers Say They Have Overthrown Niger's President

 

Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum has been removed from power, according to news reports citing a statement from a group of soldiers made on national television, Deutsche Welle reports.

"We, the defence and security forces... have decided to put an end to the regime" of President Bazoum, said Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane, flanked by nine other uniformed soldiers in the address. Reading from a statement, the soldiers said: "The country's borders are closed and a nationwide curfew declared."

Earlier on Wednesday July 26, 2023, the group blocked off the presidential palace in the Nigerien capital, Niamey.

The West African ECOWAS group of countries issued a communique soon after the news broke saying it reacted with "shock and consternation" to the news of an "attempted coup d'Etat." The statement, signed by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, said: "ECOWAS condemns in the strongest possible terms the attempt to seize power by force and calls on the coup plotters to free the democratically elected President of the Republic immediately and without any condition."

The United States also condemned the developments and called for Bazoum's release. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed support for Bazoum and said he had spoken to him after his department said earlier that it had been "gravely concerned about the developments in Niger.

The EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell wrote in French that he was "very preoccupied by the events under way in Niamey."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned "in the strongest terms any effort to seize power by force and to undermine democratic governance, peace and stability," his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. Guterres called on "all actors involved to exercise restraint and to ensure the protection of constitutional order."