Former President of Niger Mamadou Tandja is Dead
Former President of Niger, Mamadou Tandja has died at the of 82, the government announced on Tuesday.
A statement by the government revealed that Tandja who had suffered health challenges in the recent past died in the capital city of Niamey but failed to disclose the cause of his death.
Three days of national mourning was declared in respect to the former by the government.
The former president took power in November 1999 after being elected on a promise to restore stability in the country after a coup had overthrown military ruler, Ibrahim Bare Mainassara.
Tandja, a retired colonel won a second term in office in 2004 but his management of a hunger crisis caused by drought and a huge plague of locusts resulted in public uproar.
He then thrust the country into turmoil in 200...
