Coup plotting military officers in the Niger Republic have announced the overthrow and ouster of the President Mohamad Bazoum-led administration.
In the late hours of Wednesday, a Colonel-Major Amadou Adramane-led group of eight officers appeared on State TV to announce the suspension of the Country’s constitution and the closing of the country’s borders.
The soldiers cited security and economic difficulties in the country as justifications for the coup, which has been criticized by ECOWAS, the African Union, and the United Nations.
President Bazoum was held by troops of the Presidential Guard in Niamey on Wednesday morning, and they were warmed to restore constitutional order and ensure the safety of the country’s democratically elected leader and his family at the sealed-off Presidential Palace.
Newly elected Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), President Bola Tinubu condemned the arrest of President Bazoum and sent a delegation led by the President of the Benin Republic, Patrice Talon, to Niamey, the Nigerien capital, to engage the coup plotters.
President Bazoum was only two years into his five-year tenure when a failed coup by some military officers attempted to prevent him from taking office following his election.
