LONDON - Niger’s military leadership has thrown its weight behind a coup against the president, Mohamed Bazoum, even as Bazoum vowed to protect his country’s “hard-won” democratic gains. Declaring its support for the coup instigated the previous day by soldiers of the presidential guard, the military command said its priority was to avoid destabilising the country, writes The London Guardian.

With reports suggesting Bazoum was being held by the coup plotters, who had earlier announced the suspension of state institutions and the closure of Niger’s borders, Bazoum posted on Twitter: “The hard-won gains will be safeguarded, and all Nigeriens who love democracy and freedom will see to it.”

The foreign minister, Hassoumi Massoudou, issued a rallying cry on Twitter for “all democrats and patriots” to thwart the coup. Massoudou said the “legal and legitimate power” was the one exercised by the elected president, emphasising that while there had been “coup bid … the whole of the army was not involved." “We ask all the fractious soldiers to return to their ranks,” he said. “Everything can be achieved through dialogue but the institutions of the republic must function.”

In May, Bazoum complained that his government had been the target of a disinformation campaign by Russia’s Wagner group, which has been a destabilising influence elsewhere in the region. It was unclear how much of Niger the coup plotters controlled. In a late-night address on national television on Wednesday, soldiers announced that Bazoum had been removed from power and all institutions of the republic suspended, in the seventh coup in west and central Africa since 2020. ... The presidential guard, which first moved against Bazoum, is headed by Gen Omar Tchiani, but the televised statement was read by a member of the air force, Col Amadou Abdramane.