Shots at dawn and movements of armored vehicles: the situation in Niamey was confusing on Thursday. In the evening, the junta said that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum and his entourage had tried to flee. For their part, relatives of the ex-president said that their cell phones had been confiscated and Mohamed Bazoum had been separated from his wife and son.
Published on: 10/20/2023 – 02:11
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Two versions face each other.
The ousted president, his family and two cooks and bodyguards tried to escape around 3 a.m. Thursday, according to a junta press release read on national television late Thursday night.
The spokesman states that a vehicle was supposed to take them to the outskirts of Niamey, where “helicopters from a foreign power” were waiting to take them to Nigeria. Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane condemned Mohamed Bazoum’s “irresponsible attitude”, adding that the main authors of the plan and some of their accomplices had been arrested.
A little earlier on Thursday, people close to Mohamed Bazoum told us that the ex-president had been separated from his wife and son in the middle of the night and that their phones had been confiscated. Two of her former bodyguards were also immediately arrested. Shots were fired during one of these operations.
This sudden rise in tensions comes as a Nigerian judge issued a written decision demanding the release of Salem Bazoum, the ex-president’s son. This Thursday morning, his lawyers received the order allowing them to notify the State of Niger so that the decision can be implemented.
The judge clearly asks to remove all obstacles that prevent him from leaving the place where he has been detained since July 26, 2023. Regardless of any legal remedies available. This means that, despite the appeal of the State of Niger, Salem Mohamed Bazoum should regain full freedom to come and go.
Maître Nassirou Lawali, Salem Bazoum’s lawyer
Magali Lagrange