WE TALK ABOUT
Military coup in Niger
IT SOUNDS like something out of an action movie – armed soldiers take the president hostage, dissolve the constitution and shut down all government institutions as they take over the country.
But this is no make-believe story.
This is the reality in Niger after the military recently removed President MOHAMED BAZOUM from power.
General ABDOURAHAMANE TCHIANI, the military leader now in control of the country, claims the coup (an unlawful seizure of power from a government) was necessary because the president was badly mismanaging the country.
President Bazoum, who was democratically elected in 2021, has since been detained by the military inside the presidential palace.
WHY HAS IT COME TO THIS?
Although the United States and France have military bases in Niger, the region is often under attack from rebel groups such as Boko Haram, the Islamic State and
