The 2021 Nigerien coup d'etat attempt occurred on 31 March at around 3 am WAT (2 am UTC) after gunfire erupted in the streets of Niamey, the capital of Niger, two days before the
inauguration
In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugu ...
-elect
An ''officer-elect'' is a person who has been elected to a position but has not yet been installed. Notably, a president who has been elected but not yet installed would be referred to as a ''president-elect'' (e.g. president-elect of the Unit ...
Mohamed Bazoum.
The coup attempt was staged by elements within the military, and was attributed to an Air Force unit based in the area of the Niamey Airport. The alleged leader of the plot was Captain Sani Saley Gourouza, who was in charge of security at the unit's base. After the coup attempt was foiled, the perpetrators were arrested.
Context
The coup attempt took place while Niger was mired in the
War in the Sahel
Islamist insurgency in the Sahel or Jihadist Insurgencies in the Sahel refers to the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel region of West Africa following the 2011 Arab Spring to the present day. In particular, the intensive conflict in the three co ...
, with marked terrorism and inter-ethnic violence. Sahel countries received France's help against terrorists via Operation Barkhane, with controversial actions. In 2020, a coup d'état overthrew the government of
Malian President
This is a list of heads of state of Mali since the country gained independence from France in 1960 to the present day.
A total of seven people have served as head of state of Mali (excluding three acting presidents). Additionally, two people, ...
2020–21 Nigerien general election
General elections were held in Niger on 27 December 2020 to elect the President of Niger, President and National Assembly (Niger), National Assembly.Mahamane Ousmane contested the election results and lodged a legal appeal with the constitutional court, which was rejected. On March 21, 2021, jihadist factions led a , where 137 villagers were killed.
Events
According to Cyril Payen of '' France 24'', "heavy weapon fire was heard for half an hour in the area of the presidential palace. But the Presidential Guard repelled this attack and the situation seems to have come under control", and the noise of the fighting woke up locals around 3am (local time). The majority of the perpetrators were arrested by the government but some, including the leader of the coup Sani Saley Gourouza, are still at large.
Reactions
Nigerien President Muhammadu Buhari described the act as "naive and old-fashioned". The President of the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States condemned the attempted coup, a sentiment which was also echoed by other African countries, including
Chad
Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
and Algeria.
Aftermath
The democratic transition went as planned, the swearing-in of the new president Mohamed Bazoum occurring two days after the attempted coup. However, he was ousted in the
2023 Nigerien coup d'état
On 26 July 2023, a coup d'état occurred in Niger when the country's presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum, and Presidential Guard commander General officer, General Abdourahamane Tchiani proclaimed himself the leader of a new mili ...
by members of the presidential guard and the military led by
Abdourahamane Tchiani
Abdourahamane Tchiani ( ar, عبد الرحمن تشياني, ‘Abd ar-Rahman Tshiyānī; born 1960 or 1961) is a Nigerien Officer (armed forces), military officer who is the president of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, t ...
, who ironically led the presidential guard in defeating the 2021 coup.
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...