Niger's military junta has released dozens of former government officials and military officers detained after a 2023 coup in what the military authorities described as an effort to reform the country. Some of the officials served in the cabinet of ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
The officials were immediately released from prison "in line with recommendations from a national reform conference," a statement broadcast on state television said, referring to the conference that also set out how the country could transition to democratic rule.
Among those released were Mahamane Sani Isoufu, former oil minister and son of former president Mahamadou Isoufou, and Fumakoe Gado, chairman of the Nigerian Party for Democracy and Socialism, the ruling party under Bazum. Activists and at least one journalist were also released.
Their release comes days after junta leader Abdourahamane Chijani was sworn in as the country's president for a five-year transitional period, under a new charter that replaced the constitution.
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