Niger’s democratically elected former President Mohamed Bazoum and his wife Hadiza have spent more than 20 months in detention by a military that seized power in 2023 and this week cemented its grip on power.
A former high school philosophy teacher who went on to become Niger’s interior minister, Bazoum represented a break with the past: His presidential inauguration in 2021 was hailed as the first peaceful democratic transition in the West African nation since it gained independence from France in 1960.
But he was ousted only two years later as Niger followed in the footsteps of neighboring Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso in returning to military rule. On Wednesday, coup leader General Abdourahamane Tchiani was sworn in as Niger’s president for a “[transitional](https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/niger-junta-sets-out-five-year-transition-constitutional-rule-2025-03-26/)” five years.
Bazoum’s supporters have launched a global campaign for the 65-year-old’s release as they worry he and his wife are being forgotten. “They’re being used as hostages, as human shields, for their captors, who actually rule from the same palace,” Jeffrey Smith, executive director of advocacy group Vanguard Africa, told Semafor, urging world leaders to call for their release.