Leaders of the coup in Niger declared General Abdourahamane Tiani as the new head of state yesterday, and said they had suspended the constitution and dissolved all former institutions after overthrowing President Mohamed Bazoum.
Tiani was the head of the presidential guard, whose soldiers shut Bazoum in his palace on Wednesday and said it had ousted him because of bad governance and worsening security.
The general appeared on state television yesterday with a banner on the screen that described him as the president of a newly formed military council, the National Council for Safeguarding the Homeland (CNSP).
“The president of the CNSP is the head of state. He represents the state of Niger in international relations,” an officer said, reading out a statement.
The constitution has been suspended and the government dissolved, and the CNSP will exercise all legislative and executive power, the statement said.
African countries, Western powers, regional and international organisations have reacted with alarm to the coup in Niger, insisting that Bazoum be freed and constitutional order restored.
Before the uprising this week, it was seen as the West’s most stable ally in a region beset by Islamist insurgents. A number of foreign troops are based there, including French and American forces.
Niger is also the world’s seventh-biggest producer of uranium, the radioactive metal widely used for nuclear energy and in nuclear weapons, as well as for treating cancer.
Niger borders three countries – Mali, Burkina Faso and Chad – that have also experienced military coups in the last two years.
France said yesterday that the coup was not “definitive” and urged those responsible to reinstate Bazoum.