The United Nations has condemned the deplorable conditions the detained Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum and his family are subjected.
According to a Bloomberg report, an anonymous source said the Niger coup leaders cut power, food and water supplies to the site where Bazoum and his immediate family are being held in captivity, over the past weeks.
“Deliveries of fresh food to Bazoum’s residence within the presidential guard camp in the capital, Niamey, were withheld a week after his detention,” one of the sources said.
In a statement on Wednesday, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, said it is concerned about the living conditions and safety of Bazoum and his family and called for his immediate and unconditional release.
Guterres said the UN is also alarmed over continuing reports about the arrest of several members of the Government.
He urged the coup leaders in Niger to adhere to “Niger’s international human rights obligations” and release them unconditionally, the spokesperson added.
The statement read, “The Secretary general is very concerned over the deplorable living conditions that President Bazoum and his family are reported to be living under as they continue to be arbitrarily detained by members of the Presidential Guard in Niger.
“The secretary-general reiterates his concern over the health and safety of the president and his family and once again calls for his immediate, unconditional release and his reinstatement as head of state.”
Recall that on July 26, Niger’s presidential guard removed Bazoum from power and detained the ousted President and several ministers in his government.
Following the development, the guard’s commander, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, proclaimed himself the country’s new leader.
The caretaker National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland closed the country’s borders, brushing aside security agreements with France, the country’s former colonial master.
The Bazoum-led Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism said on Wednesday that the rebels were holding the president and his wife in their official residence without electricity, water or fresh food.
In response to this, the Economic Community of West African States led by President Bola Tinubu, would be meeting on Thursday in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, to deliberate on the next step to take, after the previous seven-day ultimatum issued to the coup leaders expired on Sunday, August 6.
