General Abdourahamane Tchiani, head of the Presidential Guard since 2011, appeared on state television saying he was the “president of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland”.
Niger’s
soldiers involved in the military coup have named an army general as the new
leader of the nation on Friday. The new leader also warned against any foreign
military intervention.
The
general presented the coup as a response to “the degradation of the security
situation” linked to jihadist bloodshed.
A
statement followed from the putschists on TV which warned of “the consequences
that will flow from any foreign military intervention”.
“Certain
dignitaries .. are in thinking of confrontation” which “will end in nothing but
the massacre of the Nigerien population and chaos,” they claimed.
On the
third day since President Mohamed Bazoum was detained, former colonial master
France demanded the restoration of the democratically elected government saying
it “does not recognise” the putschists and calling Bazoum “sole president”.
The coup
has prompted mounting international concern, and on Friday Kenyan President
William Ruto called the army takeover “a serious setback” for Africa.
“The
aspirations of the people of Niger for constitutional democracy were subverted
by an unconstitutional change of government,” he said in a video message.
The
European Union threatened to cut aid to Niamey after whait it said was a
“serious attack on stability and democracy” in Niger.
Bazoum and
his family have been confined since Wednesday morning to their residence at the
presidential palace located within the Guard’s military camp.
He is said
to be in good health and has been able to talk by telephone to other heads of
state.
The
Guard’s chiefs who staged the coup on Thursday had won broad army support.
Armed
forces chief General Abdou Sidikou Issa swung his weight behind the putschists
saying it was “in order to avoid a deadly confrontation”.
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