CNN
Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum said Thursday he is being held hostage by the country’s military as he warned in a Washington Post op-ed that the junta’s power grab could have “devastating consequences” for the region, where Russian mercenaries have established a foothold.
Bazoum, who was democratically elected two years ago, has been detained by soldiers at the presidential palace in the capital Niamey since last Wednesday, when the military launched a coup that has been condemned by the United States and other Western nations and brought threats of military intervention from a bloc of West African countries.
“I write this as a hostage,” Bazoum wrote in the Washington Post. “Niger is under attack from a military junta that is trying to overthrow our democracy, and I am just one of hundreds of citizens who have been arbitrarily and illegally imprisoned.”
The upheaval in Niger has hurled the region – already beset by coups and militant extremism – into renewed limbo, with Western countries in an urgent bid to evacuate their citizens and diplomats.
Bazoum wrote that this “coup, launched against my government by a faction in the military on July 26, has no justification whatsoever,” and could have “devastating consequences for our country, our region, and the entire world.”
“The coup plotters falsely claim that they acted to protect Niger’s security,” he wrote. “They allege that our war against jihadist terrorists is failing and that my economic and social governance, including partnerships with the United States and Europe, has hurt our country.”
Instead, Bazoum wrote, the security situation had “improved dramatically” in Niger since he came to power, by working with the partnerships the junta opposes.
Bazoum also cautioned that foreign aid makes up 40% of the national budget – and it would not be delivered if the coup succeeds.
‘Determined, optimistic’
CNN has not been able to independently confirm the conditions under which Bazoum is being detained in his residence.
But the ousted leader is “very determined, very optimistic” despite being under house arrest, his former adviser Idrissa Waziri told CNN Thursday over the phone.
Waziri who is based in France told CNN that Bazoum is currently under house arrest in his residence with his wife and son, saying he’s been in close contact.
