Niger President: Claim Government Foiled "Coup Attempt"
- Ari Maham (originally by Reuters)
- Dec 18, 2015
- 3 min read
Niger President Issoufou Mahamadou, also widely know in Niger as "Charlie" in reference to his "clownish boot-licking behavior" toward French President Francois Hollande following the "Charlie Hebdo" attack. Nov. 12, 2015.
NIAMEY—Niger's government claims to have foiled an attempted coup and arrested people who planned to use aerial firepower to seize control, President Mahamadou "Charlie" Issoufou said in an address on national television on Thursday.
Opponents are skeptical about this claim as Issoufou "Charlie" Mahamadou is known for his theatrics when his failed policies are exposed. This is not the first time, Issoufou has made such claims, and to this day no one has ever been convicted of the crimes Issoufou has been accusing them of committing.
However such claims allow his government to put any opponents in jail for several years before a trial; so with elections fast approaching, the unpopular Issoufou is grasping at straws such as this foiled coup claim in order to get a sympathetic ear with major world powers when he steals the coming elections.
This tactic is straight out of African Dictator Workshop 101.
This claim by Issoufou "Charlie" Mahamadou should be taken with "lots of" grains of salt, as the government is in free fall; the government is heavily criticized, at home and abroad, for their disastrous economic policies and total incompetence in the organization of open, free and fair elections for early 2016.
Issoufou was elected in 2011, one year after a coup.
Political tension is high ahead of a presidential election set for Feb. 21. Issoufou is not the favourite to win as everyone in Niger knows the military Junta from the "February 18, 2010 coup d'etat" led by Gen. Salou Djibo helped put him in office by restraining the ability of the opposition to campaign through out Niger vast country side and by disqualifying 60% of opposition candidates ahead of the 2011 elections.
Today, the irony is Issoufou "Charlie" Mahamadou is jailing his past benefactors from the February 18, 2010 military Junta that rigged the elections to put him in office.
Issoufou "Charlie" Mahamadou, according to opposition parties, is the only threat to democracy in Niger, his government with the help of foreign Powers is repressing the popular opposition ahead of the vote.
Issoufou called the coup attempt high treason and said the situation was under control and all the main actors had been arrested, except one person who had fled. The people behind the coup held power in the 1960s, he said.
"The government has just foiled an evil attempt at destabilization. The objective of these individuals, motivated by I don't know what, was to overthrow the democratically elected power," he said.
"They envisaged using aerial firepower and they have for some weeks deliberately blocked [those military assets] in Niamey that I was pressing them to send to Diffa to the front for the struggle against Boko Haram," he said.
The West African country is a major uranium producer and Western ally in a regional fight against Islamist militants including Nigeria's Boko Haram. Niger has declared a state of emergency in its southeastern Diffa region due to numerous cross-border attacks this year from Nigeria.
Gendarmes arrested at least four senior military officers on Tuesday, military sources and family members of those detained said on Thursday.
Among those taken into custody were the former military chief of staff, General Souleymane Salou, and Lieutenant-Colonel Dan Haoua, head of the air force base in the capital Niamey.
"It's said they are suspected of wanting to carry out subversive activities, but nothing is clear for the moment," said a relative of General Salou.
Issoufou's election marked the restoration of democratic rule after a coup toppled his predecessor Mamadou Tandja.
The ruling Niger Party for Democracy and Socialism says it expects Issoufou to win in the first round.
Niger's main opposition party has chosen as its candidate former prime minister Seyni Oumarou, who came second at the last election.
A third candidate, opposition leader Hama Amadou, flew back to the country on Nov. 14 and was arrested on charges of suspected involvement in a baby-trafficking scheme.
Comments