Niger’s military leaders announced that they prevented an escape attempt by Mohamed Bazoum, the former president they deposed in a July coup, on Thursday.
“At around three in the morning, the ousted president Mohamed Bazoum and his family, his two cooks, and two security elements tried to escape from his place of detention,” the regime’s spokesman, Amadou Abdramane, said on state television.
The escape bid failed, and “the main actors and some of the accomplices” were arrested, he added in the broadcast late Thursday.
An investigation has also commenced. According to Abdramane, the escape plot involved Bazoum initially reaching a hideout on the outskirts of the capital, Niamey.
They had planned to depart via helicopters “belonging to a foreign power” heading towards Nigeria. Abdramane criticized Bazoum’s “irresponsible behavior.”
Since his ousting by the military on July 26, Bazoum has refused to step down. Until now, he and his family, including his wife Haziza and son Salem, had been held at their residence within the presidential palace. Abdramane did not disclose their current location.
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In September, Bazoum’s legal team reported that he had filed a case with a court of the Economic Community of West African States against those responsible for his removal. They also mentioned their intention to take his case to the UN Human Rights Council.
The military officers who toppled Bazoum justified their actions by citing the country’s deteriorating security situation due to jihadist attacks.
Niger is grappling with two jihadist insurgencies: one stemming from a prolonged conflict in neighboring Nigeria in the southeast, and another offensive from militants crossing from Mali and Burkina Faso in the west.
Earlier this month, Niger observed three days of national mourning after 29 soldiers were killed in a suspected jihadist assault, the deadliest since the military assumed power in July.
On Thursday, the initial batch of French soldiers, instructed to leave Niger by its post-coup military rulers, arrived in N’Djamena, the capital of neighboring Chad, via road.
The convoy “has arrived without any particular problems” in N’Djamena after 10 days on the road and in coordination with Nigerien forces, army spokesman Pierre Gaudilliere told AFP.
The military personnel will leave from Chad for France by air, and the withdrawal is anticipated to finish by the end of December.
Around 1,400 soldiers were stationed in Niamey and western Niger to combat militants associated with the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda. They brought along fighter jets, drones, helicopters, and armored vehicles, along with the necessary equipment for their operations.
France has been backing ousted President Bazoum since the coup and is advocating for his release, as are numerous other nations and organizations. However, the military administration remains adamant at present.
