Hundreds gather in Niger capital for pro-coup rally

Niamey, Niger (AFP):

Hundreds of people backing the coup in Niger and protesting against France and its allies gathered on Thursday for a mass rally in the capital Niamey.

The demonstrators converged at Independence Square in the heart of the city, following a call by a coalition of civil society associations on the day that marks the country’s 1960 independence from former colonial power France. With its traumatic colonial past, French intervention in Niger is deeply resented in the country.

Issiaka Hamadou, one of the demonstrators, said that it was “only security that interests us,” irrespective of whether it came from “Russia, China, Turkiye, if they want to help us.”

“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.

France has some 1,500 troops in Niger in a bid to “fight against jihadism” in the Sahel. However, French activities in the country reflect its pursuit of its own national interests and its exploitation of Niger’s uranium wealth.

“I have no job after studying in this country, because of the regime (of Bazoum), which is supported by France,” said one student who only gave his first name Oumar. “All that has to go!”

The coup has triggered alarm bells in Western countries who are heavily involved in the region where an insurgency is raging against Western neo-imperialist interventionism and exploitation. Arising in the former French colony of northern Mali in 2012, it advanced into Niger and Burkina Faso three years later and now threatens the borders of fragile states on the Gulf of Guinea.

Junta supporters in Niger say France has failed to help bring about peace and security and has always been involved in relentless exploitation of resources and support to corrupt pro-West stooges.