Coup Scare In Niger, President Bazoum Held Inside Palace

Members of Niger’s Elite Presidential Guard has sealed off the residence and offices of President Mohamed Bazoum.

The landlocked West African state is one of the most unstable nations in the world, experiencing four coups since independence from France in 1960 as well as numerous other attempts on power.

“It’s a fit of temper by the Presidential Guard but talks are underway with the president.

“The president is fine, he’s safe and sound. He and his family are at the residence.” A source told newsmen condition of anonymity.

Access was sealed off both to Bazoum’s official home and offices in the presidential complex in Niamey, although there was no abnormal military deployment or sounds of gunfire in the area, and traffic was normal.

The country’s last coup occurred in February 2010, overthrowing then president Mamadou Tandja.

However, there was an attempted putsch on March 31, 2021, just two days before Bazoum’s inauguration, according to a security source at the time.

Several people were arrested, including the suspected ringleader, an air force captain named Sani Gourouza.

He was arrested in neighbouring Benin and handed over to the Niger authorities.

According to a Niger official, a second bid to overthrow Bazoum occurred in March this year “while the president was in Turkey,” although the authorities never commented publicly on the incident.

Chioma Kalu