Ex-President Issoufou Allegedly Behind Coup Against My Father, Claims Bazoum’s Daughter

• Hinder Bazoum accuses ousted president Mahamadou Issoufou of orchestrating the military coup that removed her father from power
• Bazoum and his wife have been detained by army officers since the coup nine months ago in Niamey

Hinder, daughter of ousted Nigerien president Mohamed Bazoum, has accused his predecessor of orchestrating the military coup that removed her father from power nine months ago.

Following the coup on July 26, Bazoum and his wife have been detained in the presidential palace in Niamey by army officers.

Bazoum succeeded President Mahamadou Issoufou two years prior, marking Niger’s first peaceful transition since independence.

In an interview with the BBC, Hinder Bazoum asserted that it had been six months since the family received any news about their parents and well-being.

“The hardest thing to accept was to discover that Mahamadou Issoufou was the mastermind who orchestrated everything out of egocentrism and to protect his interests.

“It is very painful for us to know that their oppressors are people we knew and with whom we had cordial relations.

“He, who was close to our parents for 33 years and saw us grow up… he, my father’s friend and brother, is betraying him in the most cowardly and cruel way.

“He is the one who toppled our father and betrayed him. We also have evidence that Mohammadou Issoufou prevents the junta from releasing our father.

“With our lives, we have been turned just as orphans, and no one to blame but our father’s old friend, the former president of Niger, Mohamadou Issoufou.

She claimed that “the coup would enable him to return to power after a short military transition during which a new constitution would be adopted.”

Abdulmumini Gusmani, one of the former president’s allies, stated that nine months since the military putsch, those making such accusations had failed to present convincing evidence to prove their claims.

“There is nothing new to say, except now the old courtiers of President Bazoum have included his children in the debate, especially Hinder, who once said that she asked Issoufou to intervene so that the impasse could be resolved,” Gusmani said.

“But what happened was that they put the cart before the horse and accused Issoufou of masterminding the coup. This caused a lot of confusion, so the former president had no hand… and (he is) doing what was necessary to prevent the country from falling apart.”

Junta chief General Abdourahamane Tchiani, a close ally of Issoufou, further complicates the situation.

Bazoum, once an interior minister and Issoufou’s right-hand man, was ousted after Issoufou voluntarily resigned after two terms in office.

Niger continues to grapple with jihadist insurgencies, posing significant challenges to stability and governance in the region.