According to a statement from the junta in Niger, the ousted president Mohamed Bazoum and his associates were apprehended while attempting to escape abroad.

On Thursday, around 3 a.m., the deposed president Mohamed Bazoum, accompanied by his family, two cooks, and two security personnel, tried to escape from his detention, said the regime’s spokesperson on national television.

Colonel-Major said Mohamed Bazoum’s escape plan involved taking him first to a hideout on the outskirts of Niamey and then using helicopters belonging to a foreign power to transport him to Nigeria.

“Escape from an initial recovery point near the presidential palace where an unmarked vehicle was waiting for them. This vehicle was supposed to take them to a safe house in the Tchangarey neighborhood on the northern outskirts of the city of Niamey. From there, a move was planned to two helicopters belonging to a foreign power intended to exfiltrate them to Birni-Kebbi in Nigeria,” the military leaders stated.

“The prompt reaction of the defense and security forces thwarted this destabilization plan for our country,” added the CNSP, which describes the situation as an “irresponsible attitude of the ousted president and his accomplices.”

The same source informed the escape attempt failed, leading to the arrest of the main instigators and some of their accomplices. While the authorities did not disclose the location of the deposed president on Thursday night, they announced that the Republic’s prosecutor had immediately opened an investigation into the situation. Bazoum, who has refused to resign since the coup on July 26, was detained in his residence within the presidential palace, along with his wife Haziza and his son Salem.

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