According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), humanitarian operations in Niger are currently on hold following the attempted coup in the country. The United Nations, the United States, the West African economic bloc ECOWAS, the African Union and the European Union have called for the release of Niger’s president, Mohamed Bazoum, after a group of soldiers claimed to have removed him from power Wednesday. President Bazoum has urged democratic forces in the country to resist the power grab.
On Wednesday, a group of soldiers from the presidential guard detained President Bazoum at the presidential palace and later announced his ouster on state television. In their address to the nation, the mutineers said that defense and security forces toppled the government due to bad governance and to the security situation in Niger.
A day after the military takeover was announced, things still seemed confusing in the capital, Niamey. There have been four successful coups and numerous attempted coups since Niger won independence from France in 1960. Democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum took the oath of office in April 2021.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday urged coup leaders to return the democratically-elected Bazoum to power. Speaking to reporters in New York, he renewed his call on those detaining President Bazoum to release him immediately and unconditionally. Guterres also urged the mutineers to stop obstructing Niger’s democratic governance and respect the rule of law.
“We are seeing a disturbing trend in the region. Successive unconstitutional changes of government are having terrible effects on the development and lives of civilian populations. This is particularly glaring in countries already affected by conflict, violent extremism and terrorism, as well as the devastating effects of climate change”, the UN chief said.
The leaders of Niger’s army on Thursday declared their support for the overthrow of President Bazoum, defying international calls to respect the rule of law and the country’s democratic order. The whereabouts of the President remained unclear, while the army said in a statement, it had decided to back the ouster of the President to prevent “a deadly confrontation” that could lead to a “bloodbath” in Niger.
On Friday, the head of the presidential guard in Niger, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, appointed himself president of the National Council and thus the country's new ruler. Tchiani made the remarks on national television.
United Nations spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Thursday in New York that all United Nations staff in the country “are accounted for and safe”.
“As you can imagine, we have encouraged our colleagues who can to work from home. We have a number of colleagues who were out in the field who were not able to move due to air traffic restrictions”, Dujarric said.
Military authorities have closed air and land borders and imposed an overnight curfew across the country. The United Nations has some 1,600 staff in the country, including 1,244 national and 352 international members of staff. UN humanitarian operations are currently on hold given the volatile situation.
The Central Sahel country is already facing a complex humanitarian situation. Violence by armed groups – both in Niger and the neighboring countries Mali and Burkina Faso – threatens security for the civilian population, and aggravates food insecurity.
Humanitarian organizations on the ground fear the military coup could exacerbate the humanitarian crisis. Currently, 4.3 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Niger. More than 370,000 men, women and children are displaced within the county, which also hosts more than 250,000 refugees – mainly from Nigeria, Mali and Burkina Faso. 2.5 million women, men and children are acutely food insecure.
“We are currently in the middle of the lean season in Niger – it runs from June to August – and our colleagues from OCHA indicated that they expect the number of food insecure people could reach 3 million by the end of next month”, the UN spokesman said.
The Sahel country is also faced with a critical funding situation. The UN humanitarian appeal for Niger of $584 million is currently only 32 percent funded.