Niger junta claims former president attempted to flee

The military government in Niger stopped the deposed former President, Mohamed Bazoum, from escaping from custody.

According to a military spokesperson, the previous president tried to escape during the night with his family, chefs, and security guards.

They had a plan to fly in helicopters, but something stopped it, he said.

Mr Bazoum’s lawyers have asked for him to be released right away because they believe his arrest is against the law.

He and his wife and son are trapped at home because some of his guards rebelled in July.

The lawyers say that the president who was removed from power and his family can only have a doctor visit them and bring them food every other day. However, on Friday morning, even this was not permitted. They wanted evidence to show that he was still alive.

Niger is located in a part of Africa called the Sahel. The Sahel is a band of dry land that goes from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, right below the Sahara Desert. The area has a lot of problems with terrorists and is controlled by strict military governments.

According to a military spokesperson named Amadou Abdramane, there was an attempted escape that occurred at approximately 03:00 local time (02:00 Greenwich Mean Time) on Thursday. This information was shared on state television.

“The former President Mohamed Bazoum, along with his family, two cooks, and two security guards, attempted to flee from where they were being held,” he explained.

The attempt to escape was not successful and the main people involved and some of their helpers were caught by the authorities.

The complicated plan included Mr Bazoum going to a secret place on the edge of the city Niamey, according to Mr Abdramane.

The group had decided to use helicopters from another country to travel to Nigeria. The person speaking criticized Mr. Bazoum for being reckless.

We don’t know where the ex-president and the rest of the group are currently being kept. An inquiry has begun to look into whether someone tried to escape.

The military in Niger removed the president who was chosen by the people in a coup on 26 July.

This text is saying that a military takeover happened in Burkina Faso and Mali, just like what happened here. This is happening because there is a group of militant Islamists causing trouble, and Russia is getting more influential in the Sahel region through their private military group called Wagner.

In Niger, just like in Mali, the leaders have told the French soldiers stationed there to leave so they can assist in the battle against the extremists. The first group of cars from Niger reached Chad on Thursday after traveling for nine days, according to the French army.

MrBazoum did not agree to formally step down from his position.

Even though he was captured, he managed to write and publish an article in The Washington Post telling people that he was being held hostage and that the coup would have really bad effects on our country, the area we live in, and the whole world.

Shortly after Mr. Bazoum was removed from power, US President Joe Biden requested for him to be released right away and for Niger’s hard-fought democracy to be protected.

After the Ecowas group of West African countries set a deadline, the coup leaders were supposed to step down but they did not.

The promise to use the military was not kept, and the group in power still refuses to release the president.

MrBazoum’s party and his family say that he does not have access to clean water, electricity, or fresh food.