Niger junta says it thwarted escape attempt by ousted president Bazoum
- Former president Mohamed Bazoum has been held since he was ousted in a coup in July
- Niger’s junta said escape plan involved flying out on helicopters ‘belonging to a foreign power’
Niger’s ruling junta said it had thwarted an overnight attempt by deposed president Mohamed Bazoum to escape detention with his family nearly three months after he was detained in the wake of a military coup.
In a communique late on Thursday, Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane said that Bazoum tried to reach a waiting vehicle at around 3am that was to take him to the outskirts of the capital, Niamey, along with his family, two cooks and his security personnel.
From there, they were to be flown to Nigeria aboard “two helicopters belonging to a foreign power,” Abdramane said.
“This plan to destabilise our country was thwarted,” Abdramane said, adding that the main perpetrators had been arrested and an investigation has already been opened by the public prosecutor.
Bazoum has been under house arrest with his wife and son since being ousted in July, and has refused to resign. The junta had cut off his electricity and water.
The United States has formally declared that the ousting of Bazoum was a coup, suspending hundreds of millions of dollars in aid as well as military assistance and training.
