Niger Coup: US President Biden Calls For Bazoum’s Release

United States (US) President, Joe Biden, has called for the immediate release of Niger President, Mohamed Bazoum, who currently is being detained by the military junta in the country.

Naija News reports that Bazoum, a democratically elected President was ousted a week ago in a coup by his own Presidential Guard.

The development, however, has been condemned by many world leaders  and the United States, European nations and the United Nations.

Reacting, also in a statement on Thursday (today), US President Biden said the Nigerien people have the right to choose their leaders.

He maintained that Bazoum should be released for the country’s democracy to be preserved.

“I call for President Bazoum and his family to be immediately released, and for the preservation of Niger’s hard-earned democracy,” Biden said in a statement Thursday, the 63rd anniversary of Niger’s independence.

He added: “In this critical moment, the United States stands with the people of Niger to honor our decades-long partnership rooted in shared democratic values and support for civilian-led governance.

“The Nigerien people have the right to choose their leaders.”

Biden stressed that Nigeriens have expressed their will through free and fair elections and their decision must be respected.

Bazoum was feted in 2021 after winning elections that ushered in Niger’s first peaceful transition of power, Naija News recalls.

He took the helm of a country burdened by four previous coups since independence from France in 1960.

The clock is ticking on a demand made Sunday by the West African regional bloc ECOWAS for the coup leaders to restore Bazoum to power within a week or face the possible “last resort” of military intervention.