FG Reacts As Military Stage Coup, Take Over Government In Burkina Faso

The federal government of Nigeria has reacted to the military coup in Burkina Faso which has seen soldiers take over the government of the West African nation.

The soldiers who took over power are also said to have detained the country’s President, Roch Marc Kabore.

It will be recalled Naija News reported on Monday that mutinying soldiers executed a coup in the country and detained President Kabore.

The Burkina Faso President was detained after reports of gunfire around his residence on Sunday night in the capital of Ouagadougou.

The government on Sunday had denied that the military had taken over power.

But the soldiers of the country later on Monday confirmed they have taken over power and deposed President Roch Kabore.

The army went further to dissolve the government and parliament, suspending the constitution and shuttering the country’s borders.

The coup was announced on state television by Captain Sidsore Kader Ouedraogo, who said the “ongoing degradation of the security situation” in the country forced the military to step in.

During the broadcast, Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba, a senior military officer was introduced to the people as their new leader.

Reacting to the development, the spokesperson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Francisca Omayuli, in a statement said the Nigerian government condemns the coup in all ramifications and calls for immediate restoration of democratic rule.

The statement also called for the release of the detained President and other government officials in the custody of the coup plotters.

“This unfortunate development not only subverts the constitutional order of the country, but also seeks to further destabilize the peace efforts in the ECOWAS sub-region. Nigeria, therefore, calls for the immediate release of President Marc Christian Kabore and other members of his government being detained, as well as an immediate return to the status quo ante,” the statement reads.

In recent times, similar military coups have seen the army take over in the African countries of Mali, Guinea and Chad.