Faith Nyasuguta
Niger’s soldiers say they will prosecute ousted President Mohamed Bazoum for treason, hours after a group of senior Islamic scholars said the nation’s coup leaders are open to dialogue to resolve their standoff with West Africa’s regional bloc.
In a statement read out on national television on Sunday night, Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane, a spokesman for Niger’s military, laid out the charges against Bazoum as “high treason and undermining the internal and external security” of the country.
He added that the military regime had “gathered the necessary evidence to prosecute before competent national and international authorities the ousted president and his local and foreign accomplices for high treason and for undermining the internal and external security of Niger.”
Since the coup on July 26, Bazoum, 63, and his family have been held at the president’s official residence in Niamey with international concern mounting over their conditions in detention.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had called for Bazoum’s reinstatement, imposing severe economic sanctions on Niger and threatening military intervention if civilian rule is not restored.
Still, the West African bloc, which has given a nod to the deployment of a “standby force to restore constitutional order” in Niger, has said it remains committed to finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
The spokesman dismissed concerns over Bazoum’s health, saying the deposed leader had seen his doctor the previous day.
“After this visit, the doctor raised no problems regarding the state of health of the deposed president and members of his family,” he said.
Abdramane went on to slam ECOWAS sanctions on Niger, saying the “illegal, inhumane and humiliating” measures were making it difficult for people to access medicines, food and electricity.
The statement came just hours after a group of Nigerian Islamic scholars announced a meeting with Niger’s coup leader Abdourahamane Tchiani in Niamey and said the general had agreed to hold “direct talks” with ECOWAS.
Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, who led the Nigerian delegation, said their mission to Niamey was aimed at creating an “avenue whereby the leaders of the junta coup in Niger will have a dialogue with the ECOWAS leaders to understand each other”.
During their meeting, Tchiani “accepted to have fully direct discussions with the leaders of ECOWAS”, he said.
The Muslim scholars visited Niamey with the blessing of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who also heads ECOWAS. Tinubu has adopted a firm stance against the coup, the sixth to hit an ECOWAS member state since 2020.
The bloc has severed financial transactions and electricity supplies as well as closed borders with landlocked Niger, blocking much-needed imports to the nation.
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