In Niamey, the apparent calm following the events of August 29 may be concealing deeper tensions. Behind the official statements of control and assurances from the authorities, a pressing question emerges: is Niger’s military chain of command as unified as it claims to be?
Appearances can be deceptive.
Traffic has resumed in Niamey, authorities are communicating, and the government seems to have moved past the August 29 incident. However, in military regimes, a return to calm on the streets does not necessarily mean a return to normalcy within the barracks.
This is precisely where the main blind spot of the Nigerien crisis lies today.
According to information reported by Burkinabè activist Henry Segbo, relations between General Abdourahamane Tiani and General Moussa Barmou, a central figure in Niger’s special forces, have significantly deteriorated.
These reports still require independent verification and further documentation. Nevertheless, they raise enough questions to warrant a thorough investigation.
If a portion of the special forces indeed refused to engage against dissenting soldiers, the matter would extend far beyond a simple mutiny.
It would strike at the very heart of power: the loyalty of the military apparatus to its leader.
August 29: What is known, and especially what is not
The first issue is transparency.
What exactly happened on August 29?
Which units were mobilized? Which ones refused to intervene? What orders were given, to whom, at what time, and through which chain of command?
Most importantly, who made the operational decisions during the most critical hours?
So far, the official account does not provide precise answers to all these questions.
In a military crisis, silences can be as revealing as statements.
The absence of a detailed timeline leaves several hypotheses open: a crisis limited to a few units, a broader movement quickly contained, a disagreement among military leaders, or a deeper conflict over the conduct of power.
It is now up to the Nigerien authorities to clarify these grey areas.
The longer the government delays documenting the events, the more fertile ground there is for alternative narratives.
Barmou: A name that carries weight
In this equation, General Moussa Barmou holds a special position.
As head of the special forces, he belongs to that category of military officials whose influence is not measured solely by their official title.
In an army facing a prolonged war against armed groups, elite units are a major strategic asset.
Consequently, any potential divergence between Barmou and Tiani cannot be dismissed as a personal quarrel.
The real question is institutional:
Can the junta leader still rely unconditionally on all the elite units under his command?
And if some of them refuse to participate in operations against fellow soldiers, at what point does a disagreement become a rupture in the chain of command?
This is the boundary that needs to be established.
The military’s unease did not begin on August 29
Reducing the crisis to a confrontation between a few officers would be too simplistic.
For years, Nigerien forces have been engaged on multiple fronts against armed groups. They bear the burden of an asymmetric war, with its casualties, logistical constraints, supply difficulties, and the constant pressure on deployed units.
Behind the official discourse on the strengthening of defence forces, another reality needs to be documented: the daily life of soldiers.
What equipment is actually available on the ground?
Which units have the means announced by the government?
Are the promised bonuses and benefits actually paid?
Are rotations respected?
Do the families of killed or wounded soldiers truly receive the support that was announced?
These questions are less spectacular than a military communiqué, yet they are essential for understanding the strength of an army.
An army can tolerate difficult conditions when it believes its sacrifices serve a common cause. It becomes far less tolerant when it perceives that soldiers bear the risks while decisions are made elsewhere.
The Russian dossier: The detail that changes everything
However, one element could make the August 29 crisis particularly sensitive: the possible use of Russian fighters.
Again, it is necessary to distinguish what is established from what remains to be verified.
The presence of Russian personnel in Niger is not a mystery in itself. The Niamey government has gradually strengthened its security cooperation with Moscow.
The real question lies elsewhere:
Under what circumstances are these personnel mobilized?
Are they exclusively intended to combat armed groups?
Are they tasked with protecting certain strategic installations?
Can they be used to secure the regime’s institutions?
Above all: Were they called upon or engaged during the events of August 29?
If this last hypothesis were confirmed by independent evidence, its political implications would be considerable.
Using foreign forces in a crisis between Nigerien soldiers would completely change the interpretation of the event.
It would mean that the government preferred, or was forced, to rely on an external force rather than solely on its own military apparatus.
For a junta that came to power in the name of national sovereignty, the symbolism would be particularly embarrassing.
Tiani’s paradox
This is where the regime might confront its own contradiction.
Tiani came to power through a military coup. His political legitimacy therefore rests largely on a conception of power in which the army presents itself as the ultimate arbiter of the nation.
But this logic has a fundamental flaw.
If the army is the source of the regime’s legitimacy, it is also its main vulnerability.
A civilian president can survive dissent within the army thanks to constitutional institutions, political forces, and the administration.
A military junta has far fewer institutional protections.
When soldiers begin to challenge the soldier who leads the state, the question is no longer merely political.
It becomes existential.
After the crisis: Actions will speak louder than words
To understand what truly happened on August 29, one must observe what the government does in the coming days and weeks.
Appointments.
Transfers.
Changes in command.
Possible arrests.
Removals.
Promotions.
Unusual movements of military officials.
The reinforcement of certain units around institutions.
Possible changes in the close protection of the head of state.
These signals, more than official statements, will reveal the depth of the crisis.
In an army, a transfer can be a simple administrative decision.
It can also be a sanction.
A promotion can reward competence.
It can also serve to move a man who has become too influential.
Therefore, mapping the movements of military officials after August 29 should be a priority for any serious investigation.
Who controls what in Niamey?
Another question deserves to be asked openly: How many security decision-making centres actually exist around Tiani?
Does the junta leader have a perfectly unified chain of command?
Or are there now several networks of influence within the military apparatus?
Special forces.
Presidential guard.
Gendarmerie.
Army.
Intelligence.
Units benefiting from foreign cooperation.
The answer to this question could help explain why August 29 escalated to such an extent and why the government’s reaction sparked so much speculation.
A regime can officially control all institutions while, in practice, having to navigate multiple internal power dynamics.
A battle for the narrative
In addition to this military crisis, there is another battle: that of information.
Since the events, social media has become a theatre of competing narratives.
Some portray August 29 as a minor incident quickly neutralized.
Others see it as the beginning of a deeper challenge.
Between these two accounts, one thing is still missing: public evidence to accurately reconstruct the events.
Geolocated images.
A timeline of troop movements.
Consistent testimonies.
Authenticated internal documents.
Official communications.
Command decisions.
Information identifying the units actually engaged.
This is where the real investigative work must take place.
Not in rumours.
Not in slogans.
Not in anonymous videos.
But in the methodical cross-referencing of information.
The risk of a crisis behind closed doors
The danger for Tiani may no longer be solely that of popular dissent.
It is the slow erosion of trust within the very system that keeps him in power.
A divided army does not necessarily fracture in a single day.
Fissures often begin with refusals to obey.
Disagreements between officers.
Contested appointments.
Units that view each other with suspicion.
Officials who no longer speak directly to one another.
Parallel chains of command.
Then comes the moment when everyone starts wondering which side the others are on.
This is precisely the stage to watch in Niger.
If reports of tensions between Tiani and certain figures in his security apparatus are confirmed, August 29 might retrospectively appear not as the end of a crisis, but as the first visible symptom of a reconfiguration of military power.
The question Niamey cannot avoid forever
The regime can continue to assert that the situation is under control.
But controlling a capital does not necessarily mean controlling an army.
And controlling an army does not necessarily mean securing the allegiance of all its leaders.
The real question is no longer just whether Tiani survived the August 29 crisis.
It is much deeper:
Does Tiani still have undisputed authority over all the forces that could guarantee his political survival?
If the answer is yes, the authorities should be able to demonstrate it through concrete actions.
If the answer is no, then Niger may have entered a new phase: one where the battle for power is no longer just between the junta and its adversaries, but within the very apparatus that brought it to power.
In Niamey, the calm may be real.
But it does not necessarily mean the crisis is over.
It may simply mean that the next battle will not take place in the streets. It will be decided in the barracks, in the intelligence offices, and around the tables where military decisions are made.
