Niger’s prime minister begs for international help over military coup | World News

Niger’s first-ever democratically elected president has called for international help to undo a military takeover.

Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou said undoing the coup was crucial for defending democracy in West Africa.

Mr Mahamadou is currently in France as he was out of the country for international meetings when borders closed as a result of the coup.

He said Niger should be considered a linchpin for supporting democracy in the region, and for protecting countries further south ‘against the spread of terrorism’.

Describing the coup as a ‘catastrophe’, Mr Mahamadou said: ‘Because Niger is a fragile country. It’s already a country where nearly four million people live in food insecurity.

‘It’s a country with 300,000 refugees and as many internally displaced people.’

Coup leaders pushed out the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum last week, announcing it on live television.

Niger’s constitution grants the president broad powers, including the authority to appoint the prime minister.

The West African regional body known as ECOWAS announced travel and economic sanctions against Niger on Sunday and said it could use force if the coup leaders do not reinstate Mr Bazoum within one week.

On Tuesday France, Italy and Spain announced evacuations for their citizens.

Mr Mahamadou noted the coup comes after three similar events in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea since 2020.

He added: ‘If a fourth coup is confirmed, it’s the whole democracy in West Africa that is in danger, because there’s no reason why there shouldn’t be a fifth, and after a fifth, a sixth.

‘For the ECOWAS countries, it’s a question of survival. For the international community too, it’s a question of credibility. Niger must remain a democratic state.’

His government was one of the West’s last democratic partners against West African Islamic extremists.

‘Niger is a key country in terms of security for the rest of Africa, but also for the rest of the world,’ Mr Mahamadou added.

He warned Niger’s current instability ‘could encourage the further development of insecurity linked to jihadists’, because ‘if the armed forces are preoccupied with issues other than ensuring the country’s security, you can understand that this will enable the jihadists to move forward on the ground.’

Mr Mahamadou said he is in touch with Mr Bazoum and that the president ‘is certainly a hostage’, but also that he is in ‘good spirits’ and ‘ready to face the situation’.

He believed the coup leaders would heed the ECOWAS call to restore Mr Bazoum rather than face the threat of military intervention, because they say they are ‘patriots’.

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