Several thousand people rallied in Niamey yesterday in support for the military leaders behind last month’s coup, a day after an ultimatum was issued to France’s ambassador to Niger to leave the country, according to AFP journalists.
The Seyni Kountche stadium, the largest in Niger with a capacity of 30,000 seats, was two-thirds full and the sound of vuvuzelas rang out. The flags of Niger, Algeria, and Russia dotted the stands, while acrobats painted in Niger’s national colours put on a show in the centre of the pitch.
“We have the right to choose the partners we want, France must respect this choice,” said Ramatou Ibrahim Boubacar, a model wearing Nigerien flags from head to toe. “For sixty years, we have never been independent, only since the day of the coup d’etat,” she said. Boubacar added that the country fully supports the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP), which seized power after President Mohamed Bazoum’s government was overthrown on July 26.
The CNSP is led by General Abdourahamane Tiani, who has made former colonial power France its new target. On Friday, Niger’s foreign ministry announced that French ambassador Sylvain Itte had 48 hours to leave, claiming he refused to meet with the new rulers and citing French government actions that were “contrary to the interests of Niger”. Paris has since rejected the demand, saying that “the putschists do not have the authority to make this request.” “The French ambassador, instead of leaving, thinks this is the land of his parents,” said Idrissa Halidou, a healthcare worker and CNSP member. “We are people of war, we are ready to fight against” the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), he added. The West African bloc has applied sanctions against the new regime and threatened to use military means to remove it if the new rulers do not hand back power to Bazoum.
The new rulers in Niamey accuse Ecowas of being in France’s pocket.
France has 1,500 soldiers based in Niger who had been helping Bazoum in the fight against forces that have been active in the country for years. Niger’s military rulers on Friday gave the French, German, Nigerian and US ambassadors 48 hours to quit the country, amid escalating tension over the threat of military action from the West African bloc Ecowas to reverse the coup. The move by the officers now running the country was the latest escalation in deteriorating relations between the new regime in Niamey and several Western powers, as well as the West African bloc Ecowas. Nigeria currently holds the presidency of Ecowas.
Paris has repeatedly backed calls by Ecowas for the reinstatement of president Mohamed Bazoum, who was overthrown on July 26. In separate letters to their respective governments, Niger’s foreign ministry said the French, German, Nigerian and US envoys should leave the country within 48 hours.