A leading politician says victory for Niger’s coup leaders would be ‘the end of democracy’ in Africa

By SAM MEDNICK
Associated Press

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — A high-ranking member of Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum’s political party is warning that if mutinous soldiers succeed in their coup, it will threaten democracy and security across the region and the continent. Boubacar Sabo, deputy secretary general for the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism, told The Associated Press that Bazoum had been “kidnapped” by members of the presidential guard and protesters were being paid by the junta to rally for them. Niger was seen as one of the last democratic countries in the region that Western nations could partner with to beat back a growing jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.