Information from Niger’s presidency, says that members of the presidential guard attempted to move against President Mohamed Bazoum while threatening to be attacked by the army if they did not back down.
According to the official presidential Twitter account, the presidential guards participated in a “anti-Republican demonstration” on Wednesday and sought “in vain” to rally the assistance of the other security forces.
According to reports, it was clarified that President Bazoum and his family were safe, countering earlier news that security sources claimed he was being held by guards within the presidential palace in Niamey, the capital of Niger.
On Wednesday morning, the presidential palace and adjacent ministries were barricaded by military vehicles, preventing staff from accessing their offices. However, the rest of Niamey remained calm during the situation.
Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris, reporting from Abuja in neighboring Nigeria, mentioned that the army had issued a directive for Bazoum’s loyal troops to intervene and quell what appeared to be a coup attempt. Additionally, there were unconfirmed reports of skirmishes related to the control of the state television station.
After news organizations cited security sources as indicating that the guards were holding Bazoum within the presidential palace in the nation’s capital, Niamey, it was further stated that Bazoum and his family were in good health.
On Wednesday morning, military vehicles had blocked access to the palace and the nearby ministries. According to accounts, employees inside the palace were also unable to enter their offices. However, some parts of Niamey were peaceful.
From Abuja in the neighboring Nigerian city of Bazoum, Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris said that the army had ordered Bazoum’s supporters to go in to put an end to what appeared to be a coup attempt. Additionally, he claimed that there had been unsubstantiated reports of clashes over control of the state television.
Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chair of the African Union Commission, “strongly” condemned what he dubbed a coup attempt “by members of the military acting in total betrayal of their republican duty” in a statement.
The president of Nigeria and chair of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Bola Tinubu, stated that he was already in “close consultation” with other regional leaders over the situation.
“The ECOWAS leadership will not accept any action that impedes the smooth functioning of legitimate authority in Niger or any part of West Africa,” he said in a statement. “We will do everything within our powers to ensure democracy is firmly planted, nurtured, well rooted and thrives in our region.”
Military takeovers
It remains uncertain why there was a revolt but analysts say rising costs of living and perceptions of government incompetence and corruption may have driven the guards’ move.
“The [attempted] coup fits into a long pattern of inability by the political class to speak to the economic challenges and the security and political instabilities in the country,” Emmanuel Kwesi Aning, professor of peacekeeping practice at Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Accra, told Al Jazeera. “That nevertheless, does not justify the attempted coup,” he said.
“Corruption is the big elephant in the room, plus a fight against violent extremists. This is a challenge that almost all West African governments are facing,” he added.
Bazoum was elected president in a 2021 election that was the first democratic transition of power in a state that has witnessed four military coups since independence from France in 1960.
There have been four military takeovers in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso since 2020.
Those coups were spurred in part by frustrations over authorities’ failure to stem a rebel uprising blighting the Sahel region – which includes Niger – that was once derided as the “coup belt”.
There was also a thwarted coup attempt in Niger in March 2021, when a military unit tried to seize the presidential palace days before Bazoum who had just been elected, was due to be sworn in.
Niger is a key ally to Western powers seeking to support local troops fighting a conflict which took root in Mali in 2012 and has spread to neighbouring countries including Burkina Faso and the southern coastal states.
France moved troops to the country from Mali last year after its relations with the military government there soured – an emerging pattern in former French colonies in the region.