Soldiers blockade Niger President Bazoum’s palace

Niamey [Niger], July 26 (ANI): Hours, after security forces took the Niger President Mohamed Bazoum hostage in his presidential palace, the Niger’s presidency, said in a statement on Wednesday that some members of the presidential guard had started an “anti-republican” movement “in vain” and that the army and national guard were ready to attack those involved in the “mood swing” if the movement did not end, reported Al Jazeera.
It also said that President Bazoum and his family were well after security sources said presidential guards were holding Bazoum inside the presidential palace in Niamey, the capital.
According to the presidency and security officials, ministries close to the palace have also been blocked off, making it impossible for palace employees to enter their workplaces. However, there was calm in other areas of Niamey, the capital.
The staff within the palace, according to a presidential official, did not have access to their offices.
Bazoum and his family were safe, the Niger president said in a statement on Wednesday, though it was not immediately apparent if he was inside or what was going on.
The presidency said that some “elements of the presidential guard” had started an “anti-republican” movement “in vain” and that the army and national guard were ready to attack them if the attempted mutiny did not end, according to Al Jazeera.
The 2021 election that saw Bazoum elected president marked the first democratic transfer of power in a country that has experienced four military takeovers since gaining independence from France in 1960.
Since 2020, there have been four military coups in Burkina Faso and Mali, two nearby countries.
That insurgent insurrection, which plagued the Sahel region, which includes Niger, and was often nicknamed as the "coup belt," contributed to the grievances that led to those coups, as per Al Jazeera.
A military force attempted to take the presidential palace in Niger in March 2021, just days before newly elected President Bazoum was scheduled to be sworn in.
The events on Wednesday are taking place less than a month after Bola Tinubu, the president of Nigeria and the new chair of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), urged immediate action against coups and insecurity that had "alarming proportions.”
The southern coastal republics and Burkina Faso are among the neighbouring nations where the crisis, which began in Mali in 2012, has expanded. Niger is a crucial ally for Western powers looking to back local soldiers combating the conflict.
After relations with the military administration there deteriorated last year, France moved troops from Mali to the nation, continuing a pattern in former French colonies in the area, Al Jazeera reported. (ANI)