As security worries grew among Western countries, thousands of people demonstrated in the capital of Niger on Thursday in favor of the coup that deposed the democratically elected government.
At a gathering held to commemorate the anniversary of Niamey, West Africa, gaining independence from France in 1960, protesters in the city centre of Niamey, some waving enormous Russian flags, screamed anti-French chants.
One of the demonstrators, Issiaka Hamadou, claimed that regardless of whether assistance came from “Russia, China, or Turkey, if they want to help us,” “only security that interests us” was the only thing that mattered.
“We just don’t want the French, who have been looting us since 1960 — they’ve been there ever since and nothing has changed,” he said.
“Down with France,” “Long live Russia,” and “Long live (Vladimir) Putin” were chanted by the rallygoers in his immediate vicinity.
European residents have started leaving Niger a week after the elected president Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown. Niger has been a crucial part of French and Western strategy to battle the terrorist insurgency that has afflicted the Sahel since 2012.
The West African regional bloc ECOWAS gave the coup leaders until Sunday to put Bazoum back in charge within a week or face a potential “last resort” of military involvement.
Since 2020, the group’s fourth member, Niger, has experienced a putsch.
Senegal declared on Thursday that if ECOWAS chose to act militarily in Niger, it would deploy soldiers to join.
“It is one coup too many,” said Foreign Minister Aissata Tall Sall.
Since Bazoum has been kept captive by the coup plotters since July 26, US President Joe Biden called for his immediate release on Thursday, advocating the “preservation of Niger’s hard-earned democracy”.
The withdrawal of diplomatic staff from Niger has been announced by both the United States and the United Kingdom as a precaution.
Prior to Thursday’s protests, Paris urged the junta commanded by General Abdourahamane Tiani to “fully guarantee” the safety of embassies in Niamey. On Thursday, Paris said that it had finished its evacuation planes.
