Nigeriens demonstrate against French troops, ask them to leave

In the wake of a military coup that has received enormous public support but that Paris has refused to accept, tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered outside a French military installation in the Nigerien capital, Niamey on Saturday, demanding that its troops leave.

The July 26 coup, one of eight in West and Central Africa since 2020, drew the attention of world powers worried about a regional transition to military rule.

The country most affected is France, whose hold on its former colonies in West Africa has diminished recently as public animosity has increased. Since the coups in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, its forces have been expelled from both nations, diminishing its influence in the regional conflict against deadly Islamist insurgencies.

Since the coup, there has been a spike in anti-French sentiment in Niger, which intensified last week when France refused the junta’s request for its ambassador, Sylvain Itte, to depart. The police have been told to remove him, according to the junta.

On Saturday, as a queue of Nigerien troops watched, demonstrators slashed the throat of a goat decorated in French colours outside the military base and carried coffins covered in French flags. Others carried placards urging the expulsion of France.

The largest gathering since the coup, according to Reuters reporters, suggests that support for the junta and contempt for France is not abating.

“We are ready to sacrifice ourselves today, because we are proud,” said demonstrator Yacouba Issoufou. “They plundered our resources and we became aware. So they’re going to get out.”

France, which has 1,500 troops stationed in Niger, maintained friendly ties with the country’s deposed president, Mohamed Bazoum.

Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, claimed on Friday that he communicated with Bazoum daily and that “the decisions we will take, whatever they may be, will be based upon exchanges with Bazoum.”

The junta in Niger condemned the remarks as divisive and only serving to maintain France’s neo-colonial relationship.

Niger has been subject to sanctions imposed by the regional group ECOWAS, which has also threatened to use force if necessary. Additionally, the country is home to troops from the US and various European nations.

President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria, who now holds the rotating chairmanship of ECOWAS, stated last week that regional powers could be satisfied with a nine-month transition back to civilian government.

An initial three-year transition was suggested by the junta in Niger.