By KEMI KASUMU
A development more describedable as coup attempt was Wednesday reported in Niger Republic, West Africa.
This was as soldiers belonging to the country’s presidential guard surrounded and restricted access to President Mohamed Bazoum’s office and residence, in what appears to be a possible coup d’état.
As at the time of filing this report evening of Wednesday, The DEFENDER could not ascertain reason for the move, which happened in the morning.
Effort by OUR Reporter to get information from the Nigerian Embassy in Abuja, regarding the attempted coup, proved abortive.
But Reuters said ministries next to the palace had also been blocked off making access into offices impossible for staff inside the palace.
The rest of Niamey, the Francophone country’s capital, however, appears calm.
Another media report said that discussions were underway between mutineers and the president.
The West African country is one of the most unstable nations in the world, experiencing four coups since independence from France in 1960.
Previous coups in Burkina Faso and Mali were triggered in part by frustrations over authorities’ failure to stem insurgency nagging the Sahel region, which includes Niger.
There was also a thwarted coup attempt in Niger in March 2021, when a military unit tried to seize the presidential palace, days before Bazoum was due to be sworn in.
Former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari had described the attempted coup as “utterly naïve, despicable, and unacceptable”.
Buhari urged African leaders to “remain united against coups under whatever guise or form”, and warned “coup plotters to learn from history on the consequences of instability caused by violent takeover of governments”.
