A video is circulating online with claims that it captures the moment when the ousted Nigerien president, Mohammed Bazoum, was freed by members of the presidential guard who illegally detained him as they announced a coup on national television.
The video has been widely shared across social media platforms, including WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok, alongside the claim that Bazoum was released by the putschists after he was forced to sign a resignation letter. This can be seen here, here, and here.
Claim: Niger’s ousted president, Mohammed Bazoum, has been released from captivity
Verification
To confirm the veracity of the claim, we assessed the viral video and traced it to a TikTok user whose username is shown in the video.
We ran a check to know when the user posted the video and found that it was posted on Thursday, May 4, 2023, at exactly 12:46:05 AM (GMT+01:00)– months before the July 26 Niger coup.
Also, a news report published by The Punch shows that Mohammed Bazoum was still in detention. The newspaper reported that Bazoum was visited by his doctor on Saturday, August 12, 2023, in the custody of the military junta, led by Abdourahamane Tchiani, an Army general.
Verdict: False
The CDD War Room confirms that the viral clip is an older video of Bazoum, which had been online months before he was detained in July. As of the time of filing this report, Bazoum is still being held captive by the Niger junta.
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