{"id":2990,"date":"2023-10-20T07:19:24","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T11:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/niger-junta-says-ousted-president-mohamed-bazoum-tried-to-escape\/20\/10\/2023\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T07:19:24","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T11:19:24","slug":"niger-junta-says-ousted-president-mohamed-bazoum-tried-to-escape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/niger-junta-says-ousted-president-mohamed-bazoum-tried-to-escape\/20\/10\/2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Niger junta says ousted President Mohamed Bazoum tried to escape"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The military government in Niger says it has foiled an attempt by the deposed former President, Mohamed Bazoum, to escape from custody.<\/p>\n

The former president attempted to flee in the night with his family, cooks and security, a military spokesman said.<\/p>\n

There were plans for the group to fly out on helicopters but the plan was foiled, he added.<\/p>\n

Mr Bazoum has been under house arrest since members of his presidential guard staged a coup in late July.<\/p>\n

Niger is part of the African region known as the Sahel – a belt of semi-arid land that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, just south of the Sahara Desert. The area is plagued by jihadists and beset by military regimes.<\/p>\n

The attempted escape happened at around 03:00 (02:00 GMT) on Thursday, military spokesman Amadou Abdramane said on state television.<\/p>\n

“The ousted President Mohamed Bazoum and his family, his two cooks and two security elements, tried to escape from his place of detention,” he said.<\/p>\n

The escape bid failed and “the main actors and some of the accomplices” were arrested, he added.<\/p>\n

The elaborate plan involved Mr Bazoum getting to a hideout on the outskirts of the capital Niamey, Mr Abdramane said.<\/p>\n

The group had then planned to fly out on helicopters “belonging to a foreign power” towards Nigeria, he added, denouncing Mr Bazoum’s “irresponsible attitude”.<\/p>\n

It is not clear where the former president and the rest of the group are now being held. An investigation has been launched.<\/p>\n

The Niger military overthrew the democratically elected president in a coup on 26 July.<\/p>\n

It mirrored similar military takeovers in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali, amid an Islamist insurgency and a growing Russian influence in the wider Sahel region through its mercenary group Wagner.<\/p>\n

As in Mali, Niger’s junta has ordered French troops based in the country to help fight the jihadists to leave the country. The first convoy from Niger arrived in neighbouring Chad on Thursday after a nine-day trip, the French military said.<\/p>\n

Mr Bazoum has refused to officially resign.<\/p>\n

Despite his captivity, he was able to publish an article in The Washington Post<\/a> stating that he was a hostage and that the coup would have “devastating consequences for our country, our region and the entire world”.<\/p>\n

Soon after Mr Bazoum was overthrown, US President Joe Biden called for him to be “immediately released”, and for the “preservation of Niger’s hard-earned democracy”.<\/p>\n

That followed the expiration of a deadline by Ecowas, a power bloc of West African states, for the coup leaders to stand down.<\/p>\n

Its threats of military intervention were not followed through, and the junta continues to ignore demands for the president’s freedom.<\/p>\n

Mr Bazoum’s party and family members say he has had no access to running water, electricity or fresh goods.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The military government in Niger says it has foiled an attempt by the deposed former President, Mohamed Bazoum, to escape from custody.