Attempted coup underway in Niger, regional leaders say, with reports guards are holding president

Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum has reportedly been seized by members of the presidential guard, leading to a protest in the capital and triggering warnings from regional powers a coup is underway.

The country's interior minister, Hamadou Souley, was arrested by the presidential guard on Wednesday morning local time and is being held in the presidential palace in the capital Niamey along with Bazoum, a journalist on the ground, who spoke to the minister, confirmed to CNN.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said there had been an "attempt to seize power by force" in the West African country, in a statement on Wednesday.

"ECOWAS condemns in the strongest terms the attempt to seize power by force and calls on the coup plotters to free the democratically-elected President of the Republic immediately and without any condition," the bloc added.

Niger's presidential complex was sealed off Wednesday, according to the journalist.

They said heavily armed members of the Presidential Guard began assembling outside the Presidential Palace early on Wednesday morning. The journalist observed roughly twenty members of the Presidential Guard outside the palace complex later in the day.

A statement on the presidency's social media channels said President Mohamed Bazoum is "doing well" and the army and national guard were "ready to attack the elements of the GP [Presidential Guard] involved in this fit of anger if they do not return to their better senses." CNN cannot verify the statement.