Niger Opposition Figure Wanted For Post-Election Unrest Surrenders To Police - Reports

Niger opposition figure Hama Amadou, who has been accused of helping foment recent unrest in Niamey after the provisional results of the presidential election were announced, has turned himself in to the police, media reported on Friday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th February, 2021) Niger opposition figure Hama Amadou, who has been accused of helping foment recent unrest in Niamey after the provisional results of the presidential election were announced, has turned himself in to the police, media reported on Friday.

On Tuesday the Independent National Election Commission declared that Mohamed Bazoum, a candidate from the country's ruling party, won the presidential race with 55.75 percent of the vote. The Western African nation was then hit by protests contesting his victory and supporting his main rival Mahamane Ousmane, who gathered some 44 percent of the vote and claimed the electoral fraud.

Amadou supported Ousmane's candidacy ever since he was banned from the election due to a controversy with a baby trafficking case, an allegation he claims to be politically motivated. The opposition activist came under fire from the authorities on Thursday, when Interior Minister Alkache Alhada said he was behind the unrest following the release of the election results, which led to two deaths and over 400 arrests.

According to the RFI outlet, citing several sources, Amadou, who was presumed to be on the run, came to the police station in Niamey with two lawyers for the questioning earlier today before being handed over to justice.

The presidential election was held in Niger in two rounds, the first on December 27, 2020, and the runoff this past Sunday. The provisional results are yet to be confirmed by Niger's Constitutional Court.