Niger’s military junta said Thursday that it foiled an attempt by ousted President Mohamed Bazoum to flee from custody.
Coup leaders ruling the country since July 26 said Mr Bazoum and his family, cooks and security tried to escape from detention but were caught.
A military spokesperson said on state television that the group planned to move to a hideout on the outskirts of the capital Niamey before flying out on helicopters to Nigeria.
“The ousted President Mohamed Bazoum and his family, his two cooks and two security elements, tried to escape from his place of detention,” Amadou Abdramane said.
“The strong reaction of the defense and security forces made it possible to foil this plan to destabilize our country,” he added, while denouncing Mr Bazoum’s “irresponsible attitude”.
He said the attempted escape happened at around 03:00 (02:00 GMT) on Thursday. The “main actors and some of the accomplices” were arrested, he added.
Defying calls
Mr Bazoum has been under house arrest since members of his presidential guard staged a coup in July.
The junta has defied international calls for his release and reinstatement, and President Bazoum has refused to officially resign.
Military rulers in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali have backed the Niger coup while the regional body Ecowas denounced it and threatened military intervention.
Calls by the Economic Community of West African States and former colonial power France and the United States for Mr Bazoum’s release have been ignored.
On Thursday, the first group of French soldiers, ordered out of the country by the junta, arrived in N’Djamena, the capital of neighbouring Chad.
The convoy arrived after 10 days on the road and will depart by air from Chad to France, army spokesperson Pierre Gaudilliere told Agence France-Presse.
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