Niger’s elite presidential guard detained elected president Mohamed Bazoum last week and its chief General Omar Tchiani claimed the leadership of the West African country. General Tchiani in a televised address on Friday, July 28, declared himself as the head of the National Council.

“We have decided to intervene and seize our responsibilities. We can’t continue with the same approaches,” General Tchiani said in his television address, the New York Times reported.

The coup in the West African country comes as a surprise for the United States and the European nations as they have worked closely with the president and Niger's military in the fight against the Islamist militants in the Sahel region in Africa.

US and Europe on coup in Niger

According to the Wall Street Journal, while some of Niger's West Africa neighbours are mostly aligned with the US and Europe, the others are allied with Russia and are trying to defend Niger’s new military junta. Niger has been at the centre of the US and Europe’s battle against al Qaeda and other Islamic State militants.

In the past few years, they have killed thousands of people in the Sahel, which is a semiarid region in the Sahara. Additionally, the US spent about $500 million arming the military with everything from tents and radios to surveillance planes and other armed carriers, the WSJ report added.

Additionally, the European Union has also depended on Niger to stop the African migrants from crossing the border into Libya.

On the other hand, President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have called to free Bozoum and to protect Nigeria's democracy. However, the Biden administration has not mentioned if the US is going to provide logistics and any other support for the military coup in Niger. Additionally, the United States has not launched a full evacuation of American nationals from Niger while France has sent several evacuation flights to Niger this week.

International pressure on coup leader

International pressure has been mounting against the leader of the coup General Tchiani in Niger as the US came forward in support of the elected president Bazoum and warned to restore the nation’s democracy.

On the contrary, hundreds of anti-French protesters have taken out rallies in the Nigerian capital in support of the ruling junta, according to reports.

At a protest organised by the junta and the civil society groups on Niger's Independence Day, on August 3, the protesters fisted their hands in the air and chanted support for the countries where militaries have taken power in recent years, the Business Standard reported.

Broadcast Blockage in Niger

As per the press release by France 24, the broadcasting of RFI and France 24 has been blocked from broadcasting in the country. The France Medias Monde has said that this decision was taken without any conventional or legal framework. It is clear that the condition is depriving the citizens of to access unbiased and independent information.

#BREAKING French international media outlets France 24 and RFI say their broadcasts blocked in Niger pic.twitter.com/H5Jc0Ll9dQ

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 3, 2023

This incident has occurred following the previous cases of censorship faced by the RFI and France 24 in Mali and Burkina Faso in the past months. RFI operates in 7 FM relay stations in the West African country, Niger along with the shortwave broadcast of the programs in French, Hausa and Fulfulde.

Also Read: Mutinous soldiers claim to have overthrown president of Africa's Niger