Niger Military Coup: General heading Presidential Guard declares himself the nation's new leader

Colombo (News 1st) - The head of Niger's Presidential Guard, General Abdourahmane Tchiani on Friday (28th) proclaimed himself the new leader of the landlocked West African nation, two days after a military coup toppled the democratically elected President, Mohamed Bazoum, international media reported.

Soldiers on Wednesday seized power claiming "a deteriorating security situation and poor economic and social governance", but no clear leader emerged for more than two days. Meanwhile, violence broke out in the capital, Niamey, when a mob supportive of the military burned the headquarters of the ruling party.

Although one of the poorest nations in the world, Niger contains some of the world's largest Uranium deposits.

The United Nations, European Union, the United States, the African Union, and the Economic Community of West African  States have condemned the coup and refused to recognize the military as the new government. France, Niger's former colonial ruler, has been especially vocal in its condemnation.

However, the leader of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, praised the military takeover. Wagner is highly active in the West African region and has hundreds of mercenaries training and assisting two other states - Mali and Burkina Faso, which border Niger.

Supporters of President Bazoum initially took to the streets of the capital, on Wednesday, but soldiers fired into the air and dispersed them. Land borders to Niger's seven neighboring countries were closed by the military and a night curfew was declared nationwide. 

A former French colony to the north of Nigeria, that became independent in 1958, Niger is one of the poorest states in the world, although it is a very large land area of 1.2 million square kilometers. It consists mainly of desert and its main source of irrigation is the Niger River. It is over 99% Muslim and its official language is French. It was ruled by France from 1900 to 1958. It has been wracked by several military coups and jihadist insurgencies including two currently being waged by Al-Qaeda and Islamic State. President Bazoum was elected in 2021.