The coup plotters took over power last week in a bloodless coup, and although ECOWAS has threatened them, Mali and Burkina Faso have backed them.
Now, Niger’s new military rulers have detained at least 180 members of the ousted democratically elected administration, the previous ruling party said on Monday.
Those detained include energy Minister, Mahamane Sani Mahamadou, Mines Minister, Ousseini Hadizatou and the president of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism, PNDS, Foumakoye Gado, the PNDS spokesman Hamid N’Gadé confirmed.
He added that the Niger coup plotters also detained Interior Minister Hama Adamou Souley, Transport Minister Oumarou Malam Alma and his deputy, Kalla Moutari.
The “abusive arrests” were evidence of “the repressive, dictatorial and unlawful behaviour” of the military, N’Gadé said.
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On Wednesday, July 26, officers from General Omar Tchiani’s elite unit declared Niger’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, of the PNDS, out of power.
Tchiani then appointed himself as the new ruler on Friday.
Shortly after, the coup plotters suspended the West African country’s constitution and dissolved all constitutional institutions.
The Niger coup has been internationally condemned.
