A good week after the coup d’état in Niger, thousands of citizens celebrated the country’s new military rulers on Independence Day. People rallied on the streets of Niamey on Thursday to signal their support for de facto President Abdourahamane Tiani and his junta, a reporter from the German Press Agency reported.
Bundeswehr plane landed in Wunstorf
In the late afternoon, a Bundeswehr plane with around 30 people took off from the capital’s airport for Germany. She landed in Wunstorf, Lower Saxony, at night, as a reporter from the German Press Agency reported on site. According to dpa information, there are around ten European civilians on board. The “Spiegel” also reported on Thursday evening that the majority of those who had been flown out were Bundeswehr soldiers.
The A400M transport aircraft was already at the airport in the capital Niamey before the military coup in the West African country, a spokesman for the operations command said on Thursday evening. The plane took off with permission from the Nigerien authorities.
The federal government had initially refrained from its own evacuation flights. Around 60 Germans have been brought to safety by French planes in the past few days. The Foreign Ministry in Paris declared its own evacuation operation to be complete on Thursday.
Constitution suspended after seizure of power
In the West African country, officers of the Presidential Guard arrested the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum last week and declared him ousted. The commander of the elite unit, General Abdourahamane Tiani, subsequently proclaimed himself the new ruler. Shortly after Tiani came to power, the putschists suspended the constitution and dissolved all constitutional institutions. 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 operates an air transport base in Niamey, which is the central hub for the Bundeswehr in West Africa and is important for the ongoing withdrawal from neighboring Mali. More than 100 German soldiers were last stationed there.
So far, Niger has not only been an important partner for the West in containing migration, but also in the fight against terrorism. In the Sahel, dozens of militias, some of whom have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) or the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, regularly carry out attacks.
“Nationalist fire” kindled
Niger celebrated the 63rd anniversary of its independence from former colonial power France on Thursday. According to local media, people also demonstrated in the city of Agadez with posters expressing support for the putschists. Russian flags are also said to have been waved. Agadez is on the edge of the Sahara – many migrants pass through it on their way through the desert to Libya and towards the Mediterranean.
Within a week, the putschists managed to ignite a “nationalistic fire” in the population, said Olaf Bernau from the migration network Afrique-Europe-Interact. Part of the reason for this is the EU’s migration strategy in Niger. For several years, Niger, as an important transit country for migrants heading for Europe, has received financial support to limit migration. Since 2015, a law in Niger has criminalized illegal migration and its support.
US President Joe Biden said on Niger’s Independence Day that the West African country was “facing a major challenge to its democracy”. He again called for a return to democracy and the immediate release of President Bazoum. The State Department in Washington temporarily ordered US government officials to leave Niger.
The conflict in Niger could escalate further. The West African community of states Ecowas had given the putschists an ultimatum. If President Bazoum is not reinstated by Sunday, Ecowas will take action that could include sanctions and violence, it said.
Meanwhile, the new rulers in Niger are looking for allies: The deputy head of the Nigerien military junta, General Salifou Modi, traveled to the neighboring countries of Mali and Burkina Faso, which are also ruled by the military after coups. Both have pledged their support to Niger, Modi said, particularly in the area of security. The sanctioned Ecowas members Mali and Burkina Faso had previously warned the international community against military intervention in Niger.
