Abdourahamane Tchiani

Abdourahamane Tchiani (عبد الرحمن تشياني; born 1960 or 1961) is a Nigerien military officer who is the president of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, the military junta of Niger. He had served as the Chief of the Nigerien Presidential guard (2011–2023). He played a key role in the 2023 Nigerien coup d'état by detaining President Mohamed Bazoum. On 28 July 2023, he announced himself as the leader of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland; the junta that took power two days prior. His coup triggered the Nigerien crisis, which ended in 2024.

Early life
Abdourahamane Tchiani is from the Tillabéri Region, a main recruitment area for the Nigerien army in the west of the country. He is a member of the Hausa people. He joined the army in 1984 and studied at the National School of Active Officers in Thiès, Senegal.

Military career
Before becoming Commander of the Presidential guard, he led forces in Zinder, Agadez, and Diffa regions where he combated drug trafficking. In 1989, he was the first officer to make it to the site of the UTA Flight 772 crash in the Ténéré desert, for which he was decorated. He also served in UN peacekeeping missions in the Ivory Coast, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He also served in the Multinational Joint Task Force set up by Niger, Chad, Nigeria and Cameroon to fight Boko Haram.

In 2011, Tchiani assumed command of the Presidential guards and was a close ally of then-President Mahamadou Issoufou, who promoted him to general in 2018. In 2015, Tchiani was accused of involvement in a coup plot against Issoufou but denied the charges in court. He was otherwise seen as keeping his views to himself during that time.

In 2021, Tchiani led the unit that thwarted an attempted coup; at the time a military unit tried to seize the Presidential palace two days before Issoufou stepped down to make way for his democratically elected successor, Mohamed Bazoum, who retained Tchiani in his post.

Seizure of power
On 26 July 2023, Tchiani led the Presidential guards in detaining President Bazoum in the Presidential palace in the capital Niamey as part of the 2023 Nigerien coup d'état. The coup was reportedly led by Tchiani, whom analysts said Bazoum had planned to relieve from his position. Sources close to Bazoum said that he had decided on Tchiani's dismissal at a cabinet meeting on 24 July as their relations had reportedly become strained.

On 28 July, Tchiani proclaimed himself as the president of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland in an address on state television. He said the coup was undertaken to avoid "the gradual and inevitable demise" of the country and said that Bazoum had tried to hide "the harsh reality" of the country, which he called "a pile of dead, displaced, humiliation and frustration". He also criticized the Government's security strategy for its purported ineffectiveness but did not give a timeline for a return to civilian rule.

His coup led to the 2023 Nigerien crisis.