Members of the elite Presidential Guard on Wednesday blocked access to the residence and offices of Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, a source said, but no further information was given on reasons for the action.
The West African country is one of the most democratically unstable nations in the world.
It has recorded at least four coups since independence from France in 1960 as well as numerous other attempts to change government.
An AFP journalist privy to the information said access was sealed off both to Bazoum’s official home and offices in the presidential complex in Niamey, although there was no abnormal military deployment or sounds of gunfire in the area, and traffic was normal.
Bazoum, who was democratically elected in 2021, is a close ally of France.
The country’s last coup occurred in February 2010, overthrowing then President Mamadou Tandja.
However, there was an attempted putsch on March 31, 2021, just two days before Bazoum’s inauguration, according to a security source at the time.
Several people were arrested, including the suspected ringleader, an air force captain named Sani Gourouza.
He was arrested in neighbouring Benin and handed over to the Niger authorities.
Ousmane Cisse, a former interior minister under a military government of transition that ran from 2010-2011, was later detained for his suspected role in the attempted coup.
A second bid to oust Bazoum occurred in March this year “while the president… was in Turkey,” according to a Niger official, who said an arrest was made.
The authorities have never commented publicly on the incident.
In January 2018, nine soldiers and a civilian were sentenced by a military court to jail terms ranging from five to 15 years for having attempted to topple Bazoum’s predecessor, Mahamadou Issoufou, in 2015.
Those convicted included General Souleymane Salou, a former army chief of staff and a member of the junta that had forced out Tandja in 2010.
