UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon added his voice to international condemnation of a coup that toppled Niger’s president, but in the capital, Niamey, thousands celebrated the end of Mamadou Tandja’s rule.
“The secretary-general condemns the coup d’etat that took place in Niger” and “appeals for calm and for the respect of the rule of law and of the human rights of all Nigerians,” his office said in a statement issued on Friday.
Thousands of people took to the streets to celebrate the coup, however.
An opposition alliance called on people to show their support for the new junta in a rally in the capital yesterday.
Earlier on Friday, Niger’s new military rulers had lifted the curfew declared just hours after Thursday’s coup, in which at least three soldiers died.
After Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union Jean Ping condemned the takeover, the African Union (AU) on Friday announced it was suspending Niger from its ranks.
“We have condemned the coup and imposed sanctions on Niger: Niger is suspended from all activities of the AU,” AU Peace and Security Council Chairman Mull Sebujja Katende said.
The body also called for Niger to revert to the constitution in place before last August’s controversial referendum that allowed Tandja to stay in office, potentially for life.
A statement by Niger’s new rulers, who call themselves the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy, has already suggested that they would do just that, a point that Ban highlighted in his statement.
He called on the junta to “proceed swiftly with these efforts through a process that is consensual and that includes all segments of Nigerian society.”
International condemnation of the coup grew on Friday with the US calling for a “speedy return to democracy” and former colonial ruler France demanding fresh elections “in the coming months.”
The EU also condemned the coup.
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