Niger: civil society demonstrates to demand the departure of French forces
A soldier from the Barkhane force at the Niamey air base in 2017 (illustrative image).
AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The M62, the main organizer of the demonstration, demands the departure of French forces from Niger.
The demonstrators are also calling for an improvement in living conditions in the country.
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With our correspondent in Niamey,
Moussa Kaka
Despite the light rain that fell on the capital on Sunday, the authorized march drained people this Sunday morning.
All the major players in civil society and some leaders of Niger's opposition political parties were at the meeting place Toumo, the starting point of the march towards the large Place de la Concertation, the meeting place.
Amadou Ama and Moukel Amidou were on the march: “
We came to support the purchasing power of Nigeriens.
We are already a poor country
,” says the first.
“
We came out at the call of the M62 to denounce the bad governance of our country
”, explains the second.
Abdramane Oumaru, from the Pan-African Party in Niger, was also present: “
As president of a sovereignist Pan-African Party, it is for me a duty to come and really answer the call
”.
“
Our soldiers are enough
”
For Nour Assika, the dean of civil society in Niger, it is a march for dignity: “
We are standing up to protect our dignity and to protect the dignity of our country, to protect national honor
”
.
Activist Aicha Madi does not mince words against
the Barkhane force
: “
We don't need a foreign base on our territory.
Our soldiers are enough
”.
All along the route leading them to the National Assembly Square, the demonstrators chanted the slogan: “
No to the increase in the price of diesel and the high cost of living!
We demand the departure of the French Barkhane force and the arrival of the Russian forces
”.
Slogans supported by placards on which one could read: “
The criminal French army, get out
!
On the Place de la Concertation, the Nigerien and Russian flags flutter side by side;
that of France is barred with broad black bands.
By organizing this peaceful demonstration, the Pan-African Network for Peace, Democracy and Progress is satisfied with the mobilization.
"
This is just the beginning
," one protester told us.
Street protests had been banned in Niamey since 2018, officially due to insecurity.
►Also read: Niger/France: convergence of points of view on security and development
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