Coup Atlas Research Database
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43607252023SuccessfulMilitary coup

Niger, 2023 — military coup

Niger (NER)West Africa, AfricaJuly 25, 2023

Event Summary

On July 26, 2023, members of Niger's presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum inside the presidential palace in Niamey. Guard commander General Abdourahamane Tchiani declared himself head of a new National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland two days later, saying the move was necessary given deteriorating security and governance. Bazoum, elected in 2021 in Niger's first peaceful democratic transfer of power since independence, refused to resign.

The regional bloc ECOWAS condemned the takeover and threatened intervention, though none ultimately occurred.

Films & Footage

President Mohamed Bazoum, detained by his presidential guard in the July 2023 coup.
President Mohamed Bazoum, detained by his presidential guard in the July 2023 coup. Photo: Foreign and Commonwealth Office · OGL v1.0
Bazoum at the U.S.–Africa Leaders Summit, December 2022.
Bazoum at the U.S.–Africa Leaders Summit, December 2022. Photo: Chad J. McNeeley / U.S. Department of Defense · CC BY 2.0
General Abdourahamane Tchiani, who assumed power after the coup, in 2025.
General Abdourahamane Tchiani, who assumed power after the coup, in 2025. Photo: Sule Barma / Voice of America

Archival media is credited to its holding collection and license. Media sourcing policy →

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Mohamed Bazoum, President of Niger (detained, deposed)
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Mohamed Bazoum (deposed president)
Abdourahamane Tchiani (presidential guard commander who led the takeover and declared himself head of state)

Sources

On July 26, 2023, members of Niger's presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum inside the presidential palace in Niamey.
OWNER NOTE Coup Atlas project research (migrated from the record's original background); see Further reading for this event's citation trail.
Guard commander General Abdourahamane Tchiani declared himself head of a new National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland two days later, citing deteriorating security and governance.
OWNER NOTE Coup Atlas project research (migrated from the record's original background); see Further reading for this event's citation trail.
Bazoum, elected in 2021 in Niger's first peaceful democratic transfer of power since independence, refused to resign; the regional bloc ECOWAS condemned the takeover and threatened intervention, though none ultimately occurred.
OWNER NOTE Coup Atlas project research (migrated from the record's original background); see Further reading for this event's citation trail.

Editorial Note

Migrated from this record's original background field so all research lives in one system. Source labels are HUMAN (project's own earlier research); the baseline citation trail for this event is listed under Further reading.

How It Unfolded

Hand-coded by Coup Atlas from the sources on this page, using a fixed list of tactics. Only events we have read through carry this coding, so most records do not have it yet.

Led by
Military
How long it took
2 days from first move to resolution
  • Detention or expulsion of the incumbent leader
  • Seizure of the presidential palace / seat of government
  • Closure of national borders
  • Suspension of the constitution or dissolution of institutions

Cross-Reference

Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
43607252023
Powell & Thyne id
PT-NER-2023

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Mohamed Bazoum, President of Niger (detained, deposed).

Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; placed under house arrest. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
Open dataset DOI ↗
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

CNN

“Niger Soldiers Claim Power After President’s Own Guards Reportedly Seize Him,” July 27, 2023

Financial Times

“Niger Army Backs Coup to Avoid ‘Bloodbath’: West Africa,” July 28, 2023

Reuters

“Niger Soldiers Say President Bazoum’s Government Has Been Removed,” July 28, 2023

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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Related Records

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