Madar (Niamey) - Former Nigerien defence minister Kalla Moutari is still being held at the gendarmerie in Niamey, more than two months after his arrest in Dakoro department, in the Maradi region, Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported on Sunday, 8 November 2026, citing several sources.
According to RFI, Moutari was taken away by gendarmerie vehicles three days after the attempted destabilisation in Niamey in late August 2026. Since then there has been no communication about his case and no reason has been given for his detention.
The same sources say the former minister, who held the defence portfolio under President Mahamadou Issoufou from 2016 to 2019, has been questioned but never brought before a judge. His supporters say "the case file is empty" and that he is in good health and good spirits.
Moutari had already been arrested in 2023, after the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) took power, and was released about a year and a half ago, according to the same source.
RFI added that two other people linked to the Dakoro area are being held with him at the Niamey gendarmerie: Kalla Ankourao, a former foreign minister, former deputy speaker of the National Assembly and senior figure in the now-dissolved PNDS party, and Harouna Hadiza Adamou, a member of the Consultative Council for the Refoundation who was removed from her post last month.
