Thousands of people demonstrated in front of the French embassy on Sunday in Niamey, before being dispersed by tear gas canisters, noted an AFP journalist, during a rally in support of the military putschists who overthrew the elected president. Mohamed Bazoum in Niger. Before the tear gas canisters were fired, a few soldiers intervened in front of the embassy to calm the demonstrators. Some insisted on entering the building, others ripped off the plaque displaying “French Embassy in Niger”, before trampling it on the tarmac and replacing it with Russian and Nigerien flags.
One of the soldiers, standing in a pick-up, greeted the crowd who chanted “Russia, Russia, Russia!”, “long live the Nigerien army!” and “Tiani, Tiani, Tiani!”, the name of the president of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP, the junta), Abdourahamane Tiani. The demonstrations had however been banned by the junta. France, Niger’s ally for the fight against jihadism and development, and which has 1,500 soldiers there, announced on Saturday that it was suspending its aid. A few people headed for the US Embassy, where the Secretary of State assured the overthrown President of Washington’s “unwavering” support.
Two pro-coup marches in Niamey and Dosso
The demonstration began with a march towards the National Assembly, the crowd waving Russian and Nigerian flags. The M62 civil movement, which had already protested against the French army’s Barkhane operation in the Sahel and the Sahara, called for demonstrations. Two pro-coup marches took place in Niamey and Dosso (about a hundred kilometers southeast of the capital) on Thursday, the first punctuated by incidents, before the junta called “the population to calm” and banned events.
Ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, elected in 2021, begins his fifth day sequestered in his private residence at the presidential palace by his close guard, whose leader, General Abdourahamane Tiani, is the president of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP ), the junta. After Mali and Burkina Faso, Niger, plagued by attacks from groups linked to the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda, is the third country in the region to suffer a coup since 2020.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemns
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday condemned “any violence against diplomatic rights, the security of which is the responsibility of the host state”, while thousands of people demonstrated in front of the French embassy in Niamey before being dispersed by tear gas canisters.
“The Nigerien forces have an obligation to ensure the security of our diplomatic and consular rights of way under the Vienna Conventions”, and “we urge them to fulfill this obligation imposed on them by international law”, underlines the Quai d’ Orsay, whose embassy was targeted Sunday morning by demonstrators favorable to the military putschists who overthrew the elected president Mohamed Bazoum.