Niger President Mohamed Bazoum has been removed from power, according to a group of soldiers who appeared on the West African country’s national television late on Wednesday, hours after Bazoum was held in the presidential palace.
Reading from a statement, the soldiers said, “The country’s borders are closed and a nationwide curfew declared.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for the immediate release of Bazoum.
“Whether this constitutes a coup technically or not, I can’t say, that’s for the lawyers to say, but what it clearly constitutes is an effort to seize power by force and to disrupt the constitution,” Blinken told a news conference Thursday morning in Wellington, New Zealand.
He also urged U.S. citizens in the country to avoid affected areas.
Blinken earlier “conveyed the unwavering support of the United States” in a call with Bazoum, while he was being held by presidential guards inside his palace, the State Department said.
He also “underscored that the strong U.S. economic and security partnership with Niger depends on the continuation of democratic governance and respect for the rule of law and human rights,” the department said.
