ECOWAS is reporting to have received the news of an attempted coup d’Etat in Niger with shock and consternation.
ECOWAS condemns in the strongest terms the attempt to seize power by force and calls on the coup plotters to free the democratically- elected President of the Republic immediately and without any condition.
The area around the presidential palace in the capital Niamey, where President Mohamed Bazoum is reportedly being held, is currently like a “ghost town,” a journalist on the ground told CNN, describing the situation as “tense.”
Niger’s presidential complex was sealed off Wednesday, according to the journalist.
They said heavily armed members of the Presidential Guard began assembling outside the Presidential Palace early on Wednesday morning. The journalist observed roughly twenty members of the Presidential Guard outside the palace complex later in the day.
“The President of the Republic and his family are doing well. The Army and the National Guard are ready to attack the elements of the GP [Presidential Guard] involved in this fit of anger if they do not return to their better senses,” a tweet from the presidency said.
“ECOWAS and the international community will hold all those involved in the plot responsible for the security and safety of the President, his family, members of the government and the general public,” the ECOWAS statement said.
