Niger, 1999 — military coup

Event Summary

On 9 April 1999 President Ibrahim Bare Mainassara of Niger was shot and killed at Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, reportedly by members of his own Presidential Guard, in the coup that brought guard commander Major Daouda Malam Wanke to power. Mainassara had himself seized power in the January 1996 coup that removed elected President Mahamane Ousmane, then won a July 1996 election widely viewed as fraudulent. Tensions rose after the Supreme Court cancelled opposition gains in the February 1999 local elections, prompting protests.

The government initially described the president's death as an unfortunate accident, a claim widely considered implausible. Wanke was named head of state on 11 April at the head of a National Reconciliation Council, promised a rapid transition, and oversaw a new constitution approved by referendum in July 1999 that granted amnesty to participants in both the 1996 and 1999 coups. A judicial investigation opened in June 1999 was ended in September after the amnesty took effect.

Elections in October and November 1999 brought Mamadou Tandja to the presidency, and Wanke handed over power in December 1999.