Niamey [Nigeria], July 27: Soldiers blocked off the presidential palace in the Nigerien capital, Niamey, on Wednesday.
Based on first comments officially and unofficially from President Mohamed Bazoum's office, a contingent of the presidential guard was trying to detain Bazoum inside the residence.
The West African ECOWAS group of countries, currently chaired by Nigeria, issued a communique soon after the news broke saying it reacted with "shock and consternation" to the news of an "attempted coup d'Etat."
"ECOWAS condemns in the strongest possible terms the attempt to seize power by force and calls on the coup plotters to free the democratically-elected President of the Republic immediately and without any condition," the statement, signed by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, said.
"ECOWAS and the international community will hold all those involved in the plot responsible for the security and safety of the President, his family, members of the government and the general public."
A spokeswoman for Germany's Foreign Ministry told a press briefing on Wednesday that "the situation on site is still very unclear."
"We are in contact both with our embassy there and also with international partners," she said. "And if it is necessary, we will of course also take appropriate steps."
A Defense Ministry spokesman in Berlin similarly said it was too early to evaluate the situation.
He said the German troops in Niger as part of an international mission helping fight Islamist rebels were "in safety for now," and that what came next would have be evaluated in the coming days.
The surrounding region has been unstable in recent years, with a series of coups in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso since 2020.
And in Niger itself, a failed coup attempt in 2021 two days before Bazoum's inauguration sought to stop him from taking office.
All three countries are struggling to contain an Islamist uprising in their shared border area, with the fighting not far from Niger's capital, Niamey.
Past coup leaders in Mali and Burkina Faso, and those who tried and failed in Niger in 2021, said poor progress in that fight was a motivation for their bids to seize power.
Security sources in the president's office spoke to several news agencies, with one telling AFP that elite troops had suffered a "fit of temper" and that "talks" were underway looking to defuse the situation.
Soon after, Niger's presidency issued a pair of tweets, the first of which it soon deleted.
The second said that elements of the presidential guard were in effective revolt but that the bulk of the armed forces remained loyal.
"The president of the republic and his family are doing well," the publication that remained online said. "The army and the national guard are ready to attack the elements of the GP [presidential guard] involved in this fit of temper if they do not return to better feelings."
Source: Times of Oman
