The military detain the president of Niger in an attempted coup

The Nigerian president, Mohamed Bazoum, was detained this Wednesday by some coup leaders from the Presidential Guard. The Nigerien Army has dispersed a rally of support in Niamey for the Nigerien president, which was taking place in the vicinity of the Presidential Palace.

The military have dispersed the demonstrators with shots and it is not known at the moment if there are any injuries in the clashes.

In one of the videos received by EFE from a witness to the events, a man appears walking with blood on his clothes, assisted by another man who shouts “The people are bigger than the Army!”

An attempted coup

The situation in Niamey has been confused since this morning, when members of the Presidential Guard seized the Presidential Palace building, with Bazoum and his family inside.

It is about the guard dedicated precisely to the defense of the president of the country, commanded by Omar Tchiani, whom the Government was preparing to dismiss precisely today.

Said Guard is a special body made up of troops from various military bodies chosen by the president and who have specific training and advanced equipment.

Around 1:00 p.m. local time (2:00 p.m. in Spain), soldiers from the Malian Army who came from bases outside the capital have established a perimeter around the presidential headquarters.

Within that perimeter is also the headquarters of the prime minister and several ministries, including the Interior, whose officials were sent home this morning. The military also guard the headquarters of public television ORTN.

A first attempt to overthrow Bazoum

At the moment, no authority has spoken about the coup attempt, which is the second that Bazoum has suffered since he came to power in 2021.

The first was on March 31, 2021, two days before his inauguration, when the military tried to depose him and shooting was heard near the Presidential Palace.

Niger is a country in the unstable African zone of the Sahel that currently suffers from great insecurity due to the actions of terrorist groups related to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

It is also the only one in the region that still relies on France to this day, after the coups in Mali and Burkina Faso in the last three years, which have left military juntas in power in those countries close to Russia.

In April 2022, the Nigerian Parliament approved the deployment in its territory of the French Barkhane force and the European Takuba, which operated in Mali against terrorism and which have partially relocated after the break between Paris and Bamako.