The head of the Presidential Guard in Niger, General Omar Tchiani, has appointed himself President of the National Council and thus the country’s new ruler. Tchiani made the comments on national television on Friday, two days after officers from the Presidential Guard, an elite military unit, detained democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum in his palace and declared him ousted.
Under Bazoum there was a “political discourse” according to which “everything was fine,” Tchiani said. However, the harsh reality is characterized by “dead people, displaced persons, humiliation and frustration,” the general continued.
Tchiani is an army general and was promoted to head of the Presidential Guard by Bazoum’s predecessor, Mahamadou Issoufou, after he took office in 2011. It was initially unclear whether Tchiani had the support of the entire army. The West African country’s armed forces on Thursday joined the rebel military’s call for an end to Bazoum’s term in office.
The military coup is viewed with international concern. As a result, European efforts to stabilize the Sahel suffered a severe setback. After military coups in Mali and Burkina Faso since 2020, Niger became the last of the three neighboring countries in the Sahel to be led by a democratically elected government.
The Bundeswehr maintains an air transport base in Niamey for military engagements in West Africa, where around 100 German soldiers work. Combat swimmers from the German Navy have been involved in training Nigerien special forces in the border area with Mali in recent years. The program was considered a showpiece.
It was not until the end of 2022 that the EU decided on a military mission in Niger to combat terrorism in the region. So far, the Bundeswehr has only provided a few soldiers for this three-year EU mission, who are in the capital Niamey.
The situation in Niger is also important for the EU because it is one of the most important transit countries for African migrants who want to reach the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and from there cross over to Europe. That is why the EU and Niger had already agreed last summer to work more closely together on the issue of people smuggling.
With around 26 million inhabitants, Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world. The country in the Sahel region was ranked 189th out of 191 on the United Nations Human Development Index. More than 40 percent of the people live in extreme poverty.
