Nigerien president vows to defend democracy despite ouster by military

The Nigerien President, Mohamed Bazoum, on Thursday vowed to protect the country’s “hard-won” democratic gains 24 hours after he was ousted in a military coup.

In a post on social media, Basoum appealed for calm in the landlocked West African country.

A group of dissident soldiers had on Wednesday morning detained the president after they blocked the presidential palace and ministries in the capital, Niamey.

They later appeared on national television on Wednesday night and announced that Bazoum had been removed from power and all republic institutions suspended.

The African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the rest of the community had condemned the development, the seventh coup in West and Central Africa since 2020.

Bazoum was still being held inside the presidential palace on Thursday morning,

The country’s foreign minister, Hassoumi Massoudou, also appeared on Twitter, the platform now known as X and urged “all democrats and patriots” to make the coup fail.

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