Niger coup leader calls for 'calm, vigilance and patriotism' in address to nation

The leader of the mutinous soldiers who detained the democratically elected president in Niger addressed the nation on Friday, two days after the military takeover.

General Abdourahmane Tchiani, who goes by Omar, said the country needed to change course to secure its preservation and he and others had decided to intervene to overcome "security, economic and social challenges".

"The action of the CNSP is motivated by the sole preoccupation of preserving our dear country, faced in part with the degradation of the security situation in our country and for which our authorities didn't leave a real solution for a way out of the crisis, and the other part is for the bad economic and social governance" says General Omar (Abdourahmane) Tchiani.

The general said he spoke on behalf of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country (CNSP), the group of soldiers who said they staged the takeover.

"I reiterate the appeal of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country for serenity, calm, vigilance and patriotism for together in unison we can overcome the security, economic, and social challenges mentioned before. To the international community, the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country reaffirms its willingness to respect all international engagements to which the Republic of Niger subscribes, including to human rights." 

The African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have condemned the “coup d'état"and called for President Mohamed Bazoum to be liberated amid reports that members of the presidential guard were holding him inside his palace.