The wife of deposed Niger President Mohamed Bazoum, Hadiza Bazoum, has reportedly given birth while in detention.
According to sources. She and her husband have been held by the military junta since July 2023 after a coup ousted him from power.
The birth has raised concerns about the couple’s health and well-being, as well as the legitimacy of the detention.
Similarly, Hadiza Bazoum, wife of Niger’s deposed President Mohamed Bazoum, gave birth while in detention with her husband at the presidential palace in Niamey.
The couple has been held by the military junta since July 2023, with their detention deemed “arbitrary” by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice.
The Bazoums are reportedly being held in a wing of the presidential palace with minimal contact with the outside world, except for weekly visits from their doctor.
The military junta has accused Mohamed Bazoum of plotting against state security, but no trial date has been set, and the couple’s lawyers claim they’re being used as “human shields” to prevent foreign intervention.
The international community, including the UN, ECOWAS, and Human Rights Watch, has called for their immediate release, citing human rights violations.
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