AA / Niamey / Kané Illa
Former Nigerien Interior Minister Ousmane Cissé has been arrested and placed under a committal order in the civil prison of Birni N’Gouaré, about 100 kilometers southeast of the capital Niamey, local Nigerien media reported. .
“The former Minister of the Interior under the military transition of Salou Djibo, the police commissioner Cissé Ousmane dit Loulou, has been since Friday April 08, 2022, placed under a warrant of detention in the civil prison of Birni N’Gouaré”, said reported the news site “Actuniger”.
According to the online newspaper “L’Evenement”, the former minister is “suspected of being involved in the failed coup on the eve of the inauguration of Mohamed Bazoum, the President of the Republic elected after ‘an election strongly contested by the opposition and civil society’.
The same source specifies that after his interpretation by the national gendarmerie, “Cissé Ousmane Ibrahim was heard for several hours by the dean of the judges who finally decided to place him under a warrant of committal”.
No official statement has been made about the arrest of the former minister, until Sunday at 11 a.m. GMT.
Former director general of the Nigerien police, Ousmane Cissé was Minister of the Interior during the military transition of 2010-2011 following the coup d’état of February 18, 2010 which overthrew the former President of the Republic Mamadou Tandja.
He then became adviser to the President of the Republic Issoufou Mahamadou on matters of security, before being appointed Niger’s ambassador to Chad, from where he returned only a few days ago.
The coup attempt in which the former minister is allegedly involved took place on March 31, 2021, two days before the inauguration of President Mohamed Bazoum, then newly elected President of the Republic.
Heavy gunfire was heard near the presidential palace.
In a statement, the government said it had foiled a “coup attempt”, adding that “several people in connection with this coup attempt are arrested and others are actively sought”.
The alleged mastermind of the attempt, Air Force Captain Sani Gourouza, was arrested nearly a month later in Benin before being extradited to Niger.
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