Niger Military Coup Attempt Thwarted Days Before Power Transition
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An army unit in Niger tried to seize the presidential palace in Niamey overnight in an attempted coup, the Niger government said. According to several security sources who spoke to Reuters, the military members came from a nearby airbase and were forced back by presidential security forces. Order has now been restored.
The coup attempt comes just days before the official handover of power in Niger and the swearing-in of President-elect Mohamed Bazoum.
“On the night of March 30-31, an attempted coup was thwarted,” the Niger government said in a statement, condemning “this cowardly and regressive act which sought to threaten democracy and the state of law.”