- IPAC seeks regional military command
The first image of Niger’s ousted president Mohamed Bazoum has been published online after an attempted coup, showing the leader smiling broadly and appearing to be in good health during a meeting with the President of neighbouring Chad Mahamat Idriss Déby.
Déby travelled to Niger as a diplomatic envoy to speak to the country’s democratically elected president – who is believed to be being held at the presidential residence – and the coup leaders.
Déby posted the photo on his Facebook page late on Sunday, saying he made the trip to Niger, “which is going through a major political crisis … to explore all the paths to find a peaceful exit to the crisis shaking this neighbouring country”.
He also posted a photo of himself with the coup leader, Gen Abdourahamane Tchiani, the head of Niger’s presidential guard, who is also smiling and wearing military fatigues.
Soldiers said they have removed the president from office but an intense power struggle is continuing. Neighbouring countries and international partners have refused to recognise the new leadership and demanded that Bazoum be reinstated.
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Bazoum has not been harmed and has continued to talk by phone to foreign governments.
Landlocked Niger, a former French colony, has become a pivotal ally for western powers seeking help to fight the jihadist insurgencies that have spread across the Sahel region from Mali over the past decade.
Bazoum’s election in 2021 was the first democratic transition of power in a state that has witnessed four military coups since independence from France in 1960.
The coup leaders, who seized power last week in Niger, have alleged that the toppled government had authorised France to carry out an attack on the presidential palace to try to free President Mohamed Bazoum.
The claims were made yesterday by Colonel Amadou Abdramane, one of the coup plotters, on state television. He said the authorisation was signed by Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou, acting as prime minister. The claims could not be independently verified.
France, Niger’s former colonial ruler, has condemned the coup and urged Bazoum to be reinstated but has not announced any intention to intervene militarily.
In response to allegations of authorising strikes, the French foreign ministry did not confirm or deny but instead said the only legitimate authority it recognised in Niger was Bazoum.
It also told Reuters news agency that “our priority is the security of our citizens and our facilities, which cannot be targeted by violence, according to international law.”
Paris also denied using lethal means to respond when supporters of Niger’s military government attacked the French embassy in Niamey on Sunday, France’s foreign ministry said yesterday.
The presidential guard, which seized power last week after blocking Bazoum inside the palace in the capital, Niamey, has previously warned against foreign attempts to extract the president, saying it would result in bloodshed and chaos.
Abdramane’s comments also come a day after the 15-nation regional bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) demanded that Bazoum be reinstated within a week at an emergency summit in neighbouring Nigeria.
The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), an umbrella body of all registered political parties in Nigeria, has called for the establishment of a military command to check coups in West West Africa.
The National Chairman of the IPAC, Malam Yabagi Sani, made the call on Monday in Abuja.
Sani said there should be a formal arrangement for separate armies to work together for sustainable stability of polity in the region.
He also advised the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to take swift military actions in order to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger.
“The chiefs of defence staff of ECOWAS should quickly commence deliberations on military options.
“IPAC the umbrella body of all registered political parties in Nigeria, unequivocally supports the resolution of the West African leaders under the able Chairmanship of President Bola Tinubu.
‘We call for extra protection for President Bazoum who has been held hostage by the junta.”