By Mark Mayah
The military leaders of the Niger Republic coup have named new governors to replace civilians in the country’s eight regions.
According to a Twitter posting today Thursday, those appointed are:
Agadez – Brigadier General Ibro Boulama
Dosso – Brigadier General Iro Oumarou
Diffa – Brigadier General Ibrahim Bagadoma
Niamey – Brigadier General Abdou Assouman Harouna
Tahoua – Major Colonel Oumarou Tawayé
Maradi – Inspector General of Police Issoufou Mamane
Tillabery – Lieutenant Colonel Maïna Boukar
Zinder – Colonel EF Labo Issoufou.
Meanwhile, the United States has ordered the partial evacuation of its embassy in Niger following last week’s coup.
Hundreds of foreign nationals have already been evacuated from the country, and on Sunday the French embassy was attacked by protesters.
Coup leader Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani has warned against “any interference in the internal affairs” of the country.
Protests in support of the coup are expected to take place on Thursday to mark Niger’s independence day.
Spokesperson Matthew Miller said that, despite the partial evacuation, the country’s embassy in capital Niamey would remain open.
“We remain committed to the people of Niger and our relationship with the people of Niger and we remain diplomatically engaged at the highest levels,” he said.
The US is a major donor of humanitarian and security aid to Niger, and has previously warned that the coup could lead to the suspension of all co-operation.
The British embassy in Niger’s capital, Niamey, has also announced that it will also reduce staff numbers due to the security situation.
France and the EU have already suspended financial and development aid.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a trade bloc of 15 West African countries, has imposed sanctions which include a halt on all commercial transactions with Niger and a freeze on the country’s assets in the regional central bank.
Niger’s electricity company also says that neighbouring Nigeria has cut electricity supplies, leading to widespread power cuts, although this has not been confirmed by Nigeria.
In a televised address on Wednesday, Gen Tchiani said the new regime rejected “these sanctions as a whole and refuses to give in to any threat, wherever it comes from”.
He labelled the sanctions “cynical and iniquitous” and said they were intended to “humiliate” Niger’s security forces and make the country “ungovernable”.
Military chiefs from ECOWAS met in Nigeria on Wednesday to discuss a possible military intervention, though they said such action would be a “last resort”.
Gen Tchiani, a former chief of the presidential guard to Mr Bazoum, seized power on 26 July, saying he wanted to avert “the gradual and inevitable demise” of Niger.
Niger, where both France and the US maintain military bases, has been a key Western ally in the fight against jihadist extremism in the Sahel.
After military leaders in neighbouring Mali chose to partner with the Russian Wagner mercenary group in 2021, France moved the centre of its regional counter-terror operations to Niger.
