Niger government said on Wednesday that it foiled a coup just days before the inauguration of the next president.

A military unit tried to seize the presidential palace in Niger's capital Niamey overnight but it was pushed back and order has been restored.

"On the night of March 30-31, an attempted coup was thwarted," it said in a statement days before a handover of power, condemning "this cowardly and regressive act which sought to threaten democracy and the state of law".

Government spokesman Abdourahamane Zakaria said several people had been arrested while others were still being sought, but that the situation was under control.

President-elect Mohamed Bazoum is due to be sworn in on Friday.

It will be the first transfer of power between two democratically elected presidents in Niger since the country became independent in 1960.

Niger is the world's poorest nation, according to the UN's development rankings for 189 countries. It has seen four military coups, most recently in 2010.

Around 02:00 GMT on Wednesday, the attackers reportedly from a nearby airbase, fled after being met with gunfire and shelling.

"The government condemns this cowardly and retrograde act which seeks to jeopardise the democracy and the rule of law to which our country is resolutely committed," Zakaria said.

Prone to coups and susceptible to democratic transfer of power, Niger won international praise for democratic elections. But Mr Bazoum's rival Mahamane Ousmane rejected the result of the election.

Niger has a history of military strongmen seizing power by force since its independence from France in 1960. Most recently a February 2010 putsch toppled then-president Mamadou Tandja.

(Inputs from Agencies)

Image Source: EPA