Niger: Attack on Seini Oumarou’s home kills guard

A machine-gun attack on the home of Seini Oumarou, president of Niger’s National Assembly, has killed one of his guards and seriously wounded a second, authorities said.

The attack, which happened overnight Friday to Saturday, was carried out by two men on a motorbike, Osseini Salatou, an adviser to Oumarou, told journalists on Saturday.

“They machine-gunned the guards (posted in front of his home), killing one of them” and seriously wounding the other, he added.

Niger’s interior ministry confirmed the attack in a statement Saturday evening, adding that the two attackers had tried unsuccessfully to drive off a four-wheel-drive vehicle parked in front of the building before leaving the scene.

Officials had opened an investigation into the attack, they added.

Oumarou leads the National Movement for the Development of Society, which was in power between 1999 and 2010.

Now 70, Oumarou placed third in the first round of the December 2020 presidential election, before throwing his support behind the eventual winner, Mohamed Bazoum.

In the violence that erupted following Bazoum’s election win in February, protesters attacked Oumarou’s home, shooting dead one of his bodyguards.

Niger lies on the edge of the Sahara desert, where security is a growing concern after attacks by ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda-linked armed groups from neighbouring Nigeria, Mali and Libya.