The Niger Republic President, Mohamed Bazoum has been confined at his residence by his own presidential guard following a coup to over throw him.
The coup leader Colonel Amadou Abdramane appeared on national television on Thursday urging “the population to remain calm” after youths peeled off from a gathering in support of the putschists in Niamey and ransacked the headquarters of Bazoum’s PNDS party, setting fire to vehicles in the carpark.
About 1,000 people, mostly youngsters, had turned out before the National Assembly in the capital as well as several hundred in the town of Dosso, AFP journalists saw.
The coup has however succeeded with soldiers announcing on national TV a dissolution of the constitution, Aljazeera reported.
With this, Niger becomes the sixth country in the West Africa subregion to experience a coup since August 2020.
Led by Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane, the soldiers announced they had carried out a coup and closed all West African borders.
In a statement broadcast on national television and quoted by Aljazeera, Mr Abdramane said that “the defence and security forces … have decided to put an end to the regime you are familiar with”.
