Who is the man filmed being attacked in Niamey after the coup d'état in Niger?

Since August 1, some pro-junta users have been sharing this video, which they say shows a deposed minister being beaten. However, it was just a sympathiser, whose identity remains unknown. © Observers

Since August 1, a number of pro-junta accounts have been sharing a video they say shows a deposed Nigerien minister being assaulted in the streets of Niamey after the coup d'état. But, in fact, the man in these videos is not a member of Niger's government, he is simply a supporter of the deposed president.

If you only have a minute

• Since August 1, a video of a man being violently beaten by a group has been circulating on social media, by supporters of the ongoing coup d'état in Niger. 
• Some of these accounts say that the man in the video is the deposed prime minister or interior minister.
• But the man in the video doesn't look like either of these men. Moreover, one of these key figures has been abroad since the coup, while the other has been detained by the ruling junta. 
• A member of the presidential party told the FRANCE 24 Observers team that he did not recognise the man in the video, whose identity remains unknown.

Fact-check: In detail

In the video, a man in a brown suit is seen being beaten, punched and kicked despite his defensive and non-aggressive actions. His assailants throw him to the ground and attack him again, then a man in a red shirt intervenes and pulls him away.

According to those sharing the images, the man is thought to be a member of the government of Mohamed Bazoum, the former president of Niger overthrown in a military coup on July 26. "Niger's interior minister (MINAT) beaten on the streets after the coup d'état," one user said in a post on August 3. 

For this user, who also supports the ruling junta, the video shows "Niger's interior minister". © Twitter

Several different versions of the post claim that different political figures are being beaten by the crowd. In the caption below, a user claims the man in the video is the former prime minister of Niger.

"Traitors lynched," said this account, which supports the Nigerien military, in a tweet on August 1. In the attached video, "the former prime minister" is reported to have been beaten up. © Twitter

A video taken in Niamey, outside the presidential party offices

First, we can find out when and where this video was taken, to determine whether it is related to the situation in Niger. 

One clue to the time and place of the scene is the black cloud in the sky and the burning car seen in the video.

The video shows a large plume of black smoke and a car on fire. These scenes indicate that it was filmed the day after the coup, when pro-junta protesters attacked vehicles and the presidential party building. © Observers

The scene closely resembles scenes filmed by journalists in Niamey on July 27, the day after the coup.

Eyewitness videos published on that day show the scene in front of the headquarters of Mohamed Bazoum's Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS-Tarayya) party. At the end of this video, the man being assaulted escapes through the door of the building to take refuge inside.

In this screengrab from the video of the beating (left), we see the same billboard (framed in blue) as in a video published on July 27 (right), which shows the attack on the PNDS headquarters by pro-junta protesters. © Observers

In these three shots taken from the video of the beating (left), you can see the blue door of the PNDS headquarters (in yellow), a gate to its right (in green), and the awning of a shop (in red). © Observers

You can even recognise one of the men in the group of attackers on a live video shared on July 27 by a Nigerien at the headquarters of the PNDS-Tarayya.

This live video broadcast on July 27 (right), shows the arrival of the Nigerien police at the PNDS headquarters to contain the protesters. One of the members of the group of assailants (in pink) can be seen. He appears to be talking to the officers and facilitating their passage. © Observers

So, this video was indeed shot in Niamey, the capital of Niger, on July 27, the day after the military coup. The attack on this man took place in the context of the storming of the headquarters of the PNDS-Tarayya, Mohamed Bazoum's presidential party, by pro-junta protesters.

Not the prime minister or the interior minister 

Once we've confirmed the location, we have to tackle the claim that the victim was a former minister. 

We were able to learn more about these two ministers' current circumstances after the July 26 coup. 

Mohamed Bazoum's Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou appeared in an interview on FRANCE 24 on July 30 (in French).

In this AP news wire dated August 1, we learn that he has been held outside the country since the coup d'état and that he is unable to return to Niger. It is therefore impossible that he was the victim of a beating in the streets of Niamey.

We also found out what happened to Interior Minister Hamadou Adamou Souley. An article in Jeune Afrique (article behind paywall), dated July 31, states that he was "arrested as soon as the coup d'état began" by the military coup plotters, as were the ministers of vocational education, mines and petroleum, and several senior members of the presidential party. 

His immediate arrest was due to the minister's control over the country's national guard, according to Jeune Afrique. Again, it would be impossible for him to appear in the video filmed on July 27, the day after the coup, while he was in custody.

Furthermore, these two ministers bear absolutely no resemblance to the man beaten up in the video.

This freeze frame clearly shows the victim's face (above). His features do not resemble those of Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou (middle), or Interior Minister Hamadou Adamou Souley (below). © Observers

So who is this man? A PNDS official who was contacted by the FRANCE 24 Observers team – and who requested anonymity, given the current situation in Niger – was unable to identify him. 

He said the victim was simply a "supporter" of Mohamed Bazoum, "who had the misfortune of shouting 'long live Bazoum' during the [pro-coup] protest. He's not a militant. If he was a comrade, I would have recognised him", he said.

The man in the video took refuge in the PNDS offices, but he holds no position in the deposed government or in the presidential party.