The United States President, Joe Biden has called for the immediate release of the President of Niger, Mohammed Bazoum, his family who have been on house arrest since the military junta took over the Government.
In a statement released by the White House on Thursday to mark the Republic of Niger’s 63rd anniversary of its independence, US President said the country is facing a grave challenge to its democracy.
Biden also called for the preservation of Niger’s hard-earned democracy, adding that Nigerien people have the right to choose their leaders while they’ve expressed their will through free and fair elections—and that must be respected.
“Defending fundamental democratic values, standing up for constitutional order, justice, and the right of peaceful assembly, are essential to the partnership between Niger and the United States”, the President added.
Lying in the heart of West Africa’s arid Sahel, Niger is two-thirds desert and persistently ranks at the bottom, or near it, in the United Nation’s Human Development Index, a benchmark of prosperity.
It has a surging population of 22.4 million, driven by birthrate averaging seven children per woman, struggling with two jihadist campaigns — one in the southwest, which swept in from neighbouring Mali in 2015, and the other in the southeast, involving jihadists based in northeastern Nigeria.
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes, stoking a humanitarian crisis and further straining the economy. Nigerien military received training, logistical support from the United States and France, which have military bases there.
The country is also the hub of France’s anti-jihadist operations in the Sahel, which were reconfigured after French forces quit Mali and Burkina Faso following political bust-ups with those countries.