Niger’s military leadership has thrown its weight behind a coup against the president, Mohamed Bazoum, even as Bazoum vowed to protect his country’s “hard-won” democratic gains.

The military command declared its support for the coup instigated the previous day by soldiers of the presidential guard and said its priority was to avoid destabilising the country.

However, footage from the capital, Niamey, on Thursday showed people burning cars and looting. Bazoum’s political party headquarters was also set alight.

On Wednesday morning, members of the presidential guard had surrounded Bazoum’s house and detained him.

The army’s chief of staff added that it needed to “preserve the physical integrity” of the president and his family and avoid “a deadly confrontation … that could create a bloodbath and affect the security of the population”.

Amid reports suggesting Bazoum was being held by the coup plotters, who had earlier announced the suspension of state institutions and the closure of Niger’s borders, the president tweeted: “The hard-won gains will be safeguarded and all Nigeriens who love democracy and freedom will see to it.”

Niger is a key ally of France and the US in the war against jihadist groups in the Sahel region. The country’s role has grown since relations with Burkina Faso and Mali’s military governments soured, prompting foreign troop withdrawals.

On Thursday, several hundred people gathered in the capital and chanted support for Wagner while waving Russian flags. Later, they threw rocks at a passing politician’s car.

Among issues that remain unclear is whether Niger will pivot and engage Wagner as a counter-terrorism partner like its neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, which have kicked out French forces.

The move against Bazoum was widely condemned internationally, including by the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, who said he had spoken to Bazoum.

“I conveyed our support for the democratically elected president of Niger. The US condemns efforts to subvert Niger’s constitutional order by force, and underscores that our partnership depends on the continuation of democratic governance,” Blinken tweeted.

The African Union and the west African bloc Ecowas condemned the coup d’etat, while the UN secretary general, António Guterres, urged respect for Niger’s constitution.

Nigeria’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, said his Beninese counterpart, Patrice Talon, was travelling to Niger on a mediation mission. “He is going there now, he is on his way,” Tinubu, who is also the chair of Ecowas, said after meeting Talon in Abuja.

The presidential guard, which first moved against Bazoum, is headed by Gen Omar Tchiani, but the televised statement was read by a member of the air force, Col Amadou Abdramane. (Niger is a landlocked country)

The landlocked state with a rapidly increasing population is one of the poorest and most unstable countries in the world.

Bazoum, 63, is one of a dwindling group of pro-western leaders in the Sahel, where a rampaging jihadist insurgency has caused coups against elected presidents in Mali and Burkina Faso. Their juntas, taking a nationalist stance, have forced out French troops, and in the case of Mali have woven a close alliance with Russia.

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/27/niger-president-mohamed-bazoum-vows-to-protect-democratic-gains-after-coup