Thousands rally in support of Niger military coup
Demonstrators took to the streets of Niger’s capital Niamey on Thursday in a show of support for the country’s new leadership, a week after a military coup in the West African country.
People rallied on the streets of Niamey to signal their
support for de facto president Abdourahmane Tchiani and his junta, a dpa
correspondent in the capital reported.
The demonstrations followed a call by civil society associations, according to
reports.
They came on the 63rd anniversary of Niger gaining independence from former
colonial power France.
According to local media, people also demonstrated in the city of Agadez, with
posters seen expressing support for the putschists. Russian flags are also said
to have been waved.
Agadez is on the edge of the Sahara Desert, which many
migrants pass through on their way through the desert to Libya and towards the
Mediterranean.
The coup plotters managed to ignite a “nationalistic fire” in the population
within a week, said Olaf Bernau from the migration network
Afrique-Europe-Interact.
Part of the reason for this is the EU’s migration strategy in Niger.
For several years, Niger, as an important transit country for migrants heading
for Europe, has received financial support to limit migration. Since 2015, a
law in Niger has criminalized illegal migration and its support.
So far, Niger has not only been an important partner for the West in containing
migration, but also in the fight against terrorism.
In the Sahel, dozens of militias, some of whom have sworn
allegiance to so-called Islamic State (IS) or the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda,
regularly carry out attacks.
Last week, officers of the presidential guard in Niger arrested the
democratically elected president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, and declared him
deposed.
Tchiani, the commander of the presidential guard, appointed himself the new
ruler on Friday, suspended the constitution, and dissolved all constitutional
institutions.
Bazoum used an opinion piece in the Washington Post on Thursday to call for the
international world to help restore constitutional order.
He was writing “as a hostage” and was “just one of hundreds of citizens who
have been arbitrarily and illegally imprisoned,” Bazoum said in the piece.
The coup had no justification and, if it succeeded, would
have “devastating consequences for our country, our region, and the entire
world,” Bazoum wrote.
He used the piece to call on the US government and “the entire international
community” to help restore order.
“Fighting for our shared values, including democratic pluralism and respect
for the rule of law, is the only way to make sustainable progress against
poverty and terrorism. The Nigerien people will never forget your support at
this pivotal moment in our history,” he wrote.
Niger’s new rulers are looking for allies. The deputy head
of the country’s military junta, General Salifou Modi, travelled to the
neighboring countries of Mali and Burkina Faso, which are also ruled by army
officers who took power in military coups.
Both have pledged their support to Niger, Modi said, particularly in the area
of security.
“We are happy about the closeness we have with our brothers in Mali,” the
deputy head of Niger’s military junta, General Salifou Modi, said after a
meeting with the government in the Malian capital Bamako on Wednesday.
Burkina Faso’s military strongman Ibrahima Traoré also assured him of his
support at a meeting in the capital Ouagadougou on Wednesday, Modi said.
Pressure continues to mount on Niger, with Nigeria
suspending electricity supplies and the World Bank freezing payments to the
West African nation on Wednesday.
Also, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has given the
coupists in Niger an ultimatum.
If Bazoum is not reinstated by Sunday, ECOWAS will take action that could
include sanctions and armed force, it declared.
Meanwhile, in Paris, the French Foreign Ministry said the evacuation of its
nationals from Niger has been completed, according to a statement on its
website published on Thursday.
French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Twitter that 1,079 French and
foreign nationals have been evacuated since Tuesday.
There were four Paris-bound flights carrying 992 people
including 560 French nationals.
A fifth and final flight brought about 100 people to Chad, the French General
Staff told dpa.
Paris said the evacuation was needed because Niger had closed its airspace and
there had been reported violence at the French embassy during pro-coup
protests.
Niger’s junta has accused France of planning a military intervention.
French broadcasters France 24 and RFI have been banned from broadcasting in
Niger.
A statement issued on Thursday evening by France’s Foreign Ministry said it
very firmly condemned the suspension of broadcasting.
The measures taken against the press in Niger occurred in a
context of authoritarian repression by those responsible for the coup, the
ministry added.
In Washington, President Joe Biden noted on Thursday on the occasion of Niger’s
Independence Day, that the West African country “is facing a grave
challenge to its democracy.”
He repeated calls for the immediate release of Bazoum and his family and “for
the preservation of Niger’s hard-earned democracy.”
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