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Soldiers belonging to Niger’s presidential guard have blockaded Mohamed Bazoum’s official residence in the capital Niamey and prevented him from leaving, according to eyewitnesses and one person who has been in direct touch with the president.
The move on Wednesday raises the possibility of an attempted coup against the pro-western Bazoum in a region where military takeovers in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso have been followed by sharp moves away from the west.
The leaders of Mali’s 2021 coup expelled French troops and invited in Russia’s Wagner Group to help fight an Islamist insurgency that has taken over swaths of the country.
Details about the possible coup were still emerging on Wednesday, but one person in close contact with Niger’s security officials said the army remained loyal to Bazoum and was demanding that the presidential guard stand down. “If they don’t, there could be a bloodbath,” he said.
Other reports indicated that the head of the presidential guard, General Omar Tchani, had asked Bazoum to resign.
A post on the Niger president’s Twitter account published after the coup reports emerged stated that Bazoum and his family “are doing well” and that “the army and the National Guard are ready to attack the elements of the [presidential guard] involved in this [incident]”.
Bazoum, who was elected in 2021, has welcomed French troops who were expelled from Mali last year and has courted both European and US help in combating jihadist attacks in Niger’s border regions. In an interview with the Financial Times in May he defended France’s presence in the country and blamed anti-French sentiment on targeted online campaigns.
He has also paraded his pro-democracy credentials and progressive attitudes on women’s rights and education to court western support. He was one of several African leaders who elected not to attend Vladimir Putin’s Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg this week.
A close associate of Bazoum who was in contact with him on Wednesday said the president had got up and had his breakfast normally, but was prevented by the presidential guard from leaving his home for the palace. His own bodyguards were locked outside, he said.
Since his election Bazoum has been slowly consolidating what was considered a fragile power base by appointing his own men to important positions in the security apparatus, including the head of intelligence.
Several people loyal to the former president and Bazoum’s predecessor, Mahamadou Issoufou, had been quietly retired. Moves to sideline Tchani, the head of the presidential guard, may have led to unrest, observers said.
A political analyst and resident of Niamey, who preferred not be to be quoted because events were unfolding so quickly, said he thought a coup could still be averted. A lot was at stake, he said.
“Countries in the region that have gone through coups have shifted completely their relationship from being pro-western to siding with Russia. Bazoum has taken the opposite position,” he said. “If a coup goes through that would change the dynamic. He’s almost the only western ally in the region still standing.”
Bola Tinubu, president of neighbouring Nigeria and chair of the Economic Community of West African States, described the events as “unpleasant developments” and said he was in “close consultation” with other regional leaders about the situation.
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