Several thousand people gathered in Niamey on Saturday to support the military regime resulting from a coup, the day after its 48-hour ultimatum given to the French ambassador to Niger to leave, journalists from the AFP. In the middle of the afternoon, the Seyni Kountché stadium, the largest in Niger and with a capacity of 30,000 seats, was two-thirds full, enveloped by the drone of vuvuzelas.
Nigerien, Algerian and Russian flags dot the stands and acrobats painted in the colors of the national flag put on a show in the middle of the empty lawn. Ramatou Ibrahim Boubacar, model, is adorned with Nigerian flags from head to toe, wrapped in a green, white and orange scarf, the national colors. “We have the right to choose the partners we want, France must respect this choice,” she said. “For sixty years we have never been independent, we have only been so since the day of the coup d’etat” of July 26 which overthrew the elected president Mohamed Bazoum, she believes, adding: “so we are 100% behind the CNSP”.
“We are a people of warriors”
The National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP), which took power headed by General Abdourahamane Tiani, has since taken France, a former colonial power, as its preferred target. This new gathering, in support of the CNSP, is being held the day after its decision to expel the French ambassador to Niger, giving him 48 hours to leave, a decision immediately rejected by Paris for which the “putschists have no authority ” to do this.
“The French ambassador, instead of leaving, thinks it’s the land of his parents”, plague Idrissa Halidou, health worker and member of the Niger Association for the Safeguarding of the Homeland. “We are a people of warriors, we are ready to fight against the forces of ECOWAS”, he adds. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decided after the coup to impose heavy economic and financial sanctions on Niger, suspended from the organization, and also threatened to intervene militarily there. to restore Mohamed Bazoum to his post.
The new masters of Niamey have accused ECOWAS of being in the “pay” of France, which has 1,500 soldiers in Niger. The latter, before the coup, participated in the fight against the jihadist groups which have bloodied this country and a large part of the Sahel for years.