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- Top military officers in Niger Republic ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, and they seem adamant despite outside threats
- The coup leaders failed to return the government to civilian hands in spite of warnings by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
- A video posted on social media claimed to show the Nigerian army in Niger shortly after that country’s July 2023 coup, but that’s not the case
Niamey, Niger Republic – On Wednesday, July 26, 2023, a coup d’état occurred in Niger Republic when the country’s presidential guard detained the democratically-elected leader, President Mohamed Bazoum.
Presidential guard commander, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, proclaimed himself the leader of the new military junta.
Source: Getty Images
Nigerian army invading Niger after coup?
There were 13 military coups in Africa in recent years, as a result, the situation in Niger attracted strong international attention.
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Nigeria reacted quickly, by cutting off electricity supplies, financial transactions, and closing its land borders with Niger.
Now, after summits concerning the crisis in Niger, regional leaders have ordered the activation of a standby military force, ready to invade the country should the military continue to hold on to power. The organisation, ECOWAS, is chaired by the Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu. Niger shares borders with Nigeria.
Apart from Tinubu’s Nigeria, 14 other countries make up ECOWAS.
Niger: The misleading video
In July, a video was posted on the popular social media app, TikTok, claiming to show that Nigerian soldiers are already in Niger.
In the 66-second clip, soldiers could be seen on a dusty street, with explosions and gunfire discharged. The security forces looked war-ready as they check the vicinity. At one point, a civilian runs past them with his arms raised, shouting “we want peace”.
The caption said:
“Nigerian army at Niger.”
The lower part shows a photo of deposed Bazoum and the Nigerien flag.
The video can be found on TikTok here, and on Facebook here and here.
But is the depiction correct? A fact-checking platform, Africa Check, scrutinised the video.
Africa Check found that the video does not show the Nigerian army in Niger in July 2023. Rather, it shows a past video shot in Sierra Leone.
The original video was uploaded on the Associated Press (AP) Archive YouTube channel in 2015, but its date is given as February 1998, according to the fact-checking organisation.
The video’s caption reads:
“Sierra Leone: rebels loyal to old regime still fighting Ecomog.”
It was shot during the Sierra Leone civil war which happened between March 1991 and January 2002, and it showed ECOMOG officers. ECOMOG is a former West African multilateral armed force established by ECOWAS.
Niger junta’s prime minister speaks on transition
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Niger’s military-appointed prime minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, reiterated that his country is in the process of transition.
Zeine spoke when he visited neighbouring Chad on Tuesday, August 15. There, he met with President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno.
Source: Legit.ng
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