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Ph:DR: General Salifou Modi, Niger’s new strongman
The movement of mood announced very early in the day of Wednesday July 26 is confirmed in the evening like a Coup d’etat through the declaration of the military junta. The President of the Republic Bazoum is thus dismissed. Faced with this event with political repercussions, the effectiveness of the regional organization that is ECOWAS is once again put to the test, despite the fact that the institution reacted quickly during the day to condemn this coup, the junta that demanded the resignation of President Bazoum ended up winning.
Aline ASSANKPON
Like wildfire, the news spread very early in the morning of July 26. At the end of the evening, soldiers claimed to have overthrown the regime of President Mohamed Bazoum in a statement read by one of them on national television.
The staff of the Nigerien armed forces announced on Thursday morning July 27 that it was lining up behind the putschists of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Fatherland (CNSP) who claimed to have dismissed the Nigerien president a few hours earlier. , reports Young Africa.
According to concordant sources, the new strongman of the military regime would be General Salifou Modi as the head of the new junta (National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland-CNSP) now at the head of the country. While waiting for statements confirming the transition regime and its governance schedule, let’s find out who General Salifou Modi is.
Who is General Salifou Modi?
Salifou Modi (sometimes written Mody) was born on October 18, 1962 in Zinder. He did his primary school in Niamey from 1969 to 1975. Child of the troops (AET), after the primary cycle, he attended the preparatory military school of Bingervile in Ivory Coast, from where he graduated in 1983.
He then joined the Nigerien army the same year, as a volunteer, and at the same time continued his military training in several war schools, notably in Cameroon, France and Madagascar.
Commander of various units, notably in N’Guigmi, Agadez and Niamey, he rose to the rank of captain in 1993. In 1998, he rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and subsequently appointed High Commander of the Republican Guard for ten years. ‘years. It was under his long reign at the head of this defense and security corps that the Republican Guard (GR) was transformed into the National Intervention and Security Forces (FNIS), before becoming today the Garde Républicaine (GR). national government of Niger (GNN).
In 1999, Salifou Modi was part of the National Reconciliation Council (CRN), the military junta that led the transition after the disappearance of General Ibrahim Baré Mainassara and the coup that ended the 4th Republic.
Under the 5th Republic, at the time of Tandja Mamadou, he was kept at the head of the ex-FNIS and after a new training in China, he occupied for a time the position of zone commander (Comzone) of the Defense Zone No. 1 in Agadez. It was at the height of the rebellion of the MNJ (Nigerien Movement for Justice) which raged in this northern part of the country. In 2008, at the end of the rebellion, and on the strength of his armed feats on the front, President Tandja propelled him deputy chief of staff of the land forces. In 2010, a new political crisis shook the country and the army again burst onto the scene with the military coup of February 18, 2010.
Officer Salifou Modi was appointed a member of the military transition body, the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy (CSRD), headed by General Salou Djibo. He then became the Chief of Staff of the Army (CEMAT) until the advent of the 7th Republic in 2011, when he was sent abroad as a military attaché to the Army. Embassy of Niger in Germany.
Decorated with several medals (Knight of the Order of Merit in 1998 and Knight of the National Order in 2003), he reached the rank of Brigadier General, by decree of the President of the Republic, Head of State, Supreme Leader armies, January 11, 2018.
In January 2020, Major General Salifou Modi was appointed Chief of Defense Staff to replace General Ahmed Mohamed.
In April 2023, he was sacked and replaced by Major General Abdou Sidikou Issa. According to several sources, a trip to Mali would be the cause of his dismissal. On June 1, 2023, he was appointed Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.
Indeed, General Salifou Modi is the son of a non-commissioned officer of what was at the time a young Nigerien army (his father, Chief Warrant Officer Modi, was executed following an attempted coup case). State against the regime of Diori Hamani under the 1st Republic).
Father of two children: a daughter and a son, who is also engaged in the flag. It was at the front that he built his reputation, particularly in the north of the country, where he had to hold out, at the head of his soldiers, against the terrorists of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) of the infamous Abderrazak “el Para”, a former Algerian warlord.
On July 26, 2023, following a coup d’etat, several sources designate him as the head of the new junta (National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland-CNSP) now at the head of the country. (Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
