AL JAZEERA
Niger’s army has declared allegiance to the defence and security forces that overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum depite his defiant stance and global condemnation of the coup.
In a statement posted on Thursday to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, army chief of staff Abdou Sidikou Issa said the decision was necessary to “avoid a deadly confrontation between the various forces”.
Members of the Presidential Guard had detained Bazoum inside his palace in the capital, Niamey, early on Wednesday.
In a statement broadcast later on national television, Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane, spokesperson for a group calling itself the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country, said that “the defence and security forces … have decided to put an end to the regime you are familiar with”.
“This follows the continuous deterioration of the security situation, the bad social and economic management,” he added.
The soldier said the country’s borders have been closed, and a nationwide curfew was in place. All institutions of the country were also suspended, Abdramane added. He was seated and flanked by nine other officers wearing fatigues as he read out his statement.
On Thursday, the colonel announced on national TV that all activities by political parties in Niger have been suspended until further notice, after the army declared its allegiance to the group.
The mutineers accused France on Thursday of landing a military plane in defiance of their orders to close the country’s borders.
“The French partner bypassed (the decision) on closing land and air borders in order to land an A401-type military aircraft at Niamey international airport this morning at 6:30 am,” Abdramane said in a statement, demanding “once and for all that measures (taken by the coup plotters) be strictly upheld.”
