Macron concerned over deposed Niger president Bazoum's fate

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed Friday his "concern over the uncertain situation" facing Niger's deposed president Mohamed Bazoum.

Macron called "for his immediate release and that of his wife and son", the presidency said in a statement.

It reiterated "France's determination to continue its efforts for the restoration of constitutional order in Niger".

On Thursday evening, Niger's military rulers claimed that Bazoum had "tried to escape", which was denied by his lawyers.

Since he was toppled by the military on July 26, Bazoum had been held at his residence in the heart of the presidential palace along with his wife and son.

The escape plan involved getting to a hideout on the outskirts of the capital Niamey before taking helicopters "belonging to a foreign power" towards Nigeria, regime spokesman Amadou Abdramane said on state television.

The bid failed and "the main actors and some of the accomplices" were arrested, he added.

Bazoum, his wife and son are being "held incommunicado, without access to lawyers or the outside world", Mohamed Seydou Diagne, coordinator of the collective, said in a statement sent to AFP in Abidjan.

On Friday, a doctor was refused access as he brought the family food, he added.

Being held "incommunicado", the lawyer said, was "a new red line which has been crossed by a junta which continues to violate the fundamental rights of our client".