The investigations carried out by Niger and France did not make it possible to determine the circumstances of the death of three demonstrators during clashes, at the end of November 2021, at the passage of a convoy of the Barkhane force near Burkina Faso and Mali, according to the Nigerian government.
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This military convoy, which left Abidjan to join Gao in Mali, was first blocked and stoned by demonstrators in Kaya in central Burkina Faso. He had resumed his journey before being again interrupted by angry demonstrators in Téra, in western Niger. Three of them had been killed, in shots attributed to Nigerien or French forces. On December 17, 2021, Niger’s President, Mohamed Bazoum, had “required by the French authorities“an investigation into the clashes and”ordered an investigationfrom Niger.
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“Serious shortcomings”
“The exploitation of the results of the investigation by the gendarmerie of Niger and the French army not having made it possible to determine the exact course of the events which caused the death and the wounds of the demonstrators, Niger and France decided to ensure together the compensation of the families of the victims as well as the injured“, Underlines a press release from the Nigerien Ministry of the Interior published Tuesday evening. The amount of this compensationin equal partsbetween the two countries for each of the victims, has not been revealed.
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The investigation conducted by the Nigerien gendarmeriebrought to light serious shortcomings in the law enforcement system planned to manage this situationby Niger, whichled the French army to use force to extricate itself from the pressure of the demonstrators“, underlines the press release. “The investigation carried out by the French army, for its part, while acknowledging the use of force by the convoy to extricate itself from the crowd which threatened it, concluded that the facts took place under regulatory conditions by means of warning shots“, he adds.
In addition to the three demonstrators killed, 17 civilians, seven Nigerien gendarmes and seven French soldiers, had been injured, specifies the text. The demonstration “which was far from a spontaneous event“, has “involved several people“, whose “most were young students“, according to the ministry. Paris and Niameywelcome their collaboration in this particularly sensitive file” and “are pleased with the solution obtained“, greeting “the memory of the deceased“says the press release.
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Following these incidents, the Nigerien president replaced his Minister of the Interior, Alkache Alhada, as well as the High Commander of the National Gendarmerie, General Salifou Wakasso. Niger has to deal with regular and deadly attacks by jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in the Sahel in the West, and those of Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa (Iswap ) in the Southeast.
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