“Perhaps the most important thing is the hostage-taking of the Nigeriens themselves,” says Pierre Jacquemot, former ambassador to Africa.

The French ambassador was forced to leave Niger, where the situation had become untenable. “He was the victim of particularly harsh measures, including to secure food for himself and the embassy services. (…) It became absolutely impossible“, confides Pierre Jacquemot, former ambassador to Africa, who praises his attitude”courageous“.”He played the role of the captain who sinks, and who stays until the end“, continues the economist.

Sanctions weigh on Niger

For Pierre Jacquemot, the animosity for France displayed by Nigeriens is first and foremost “a magnifying glass effect“, who is “far from representing the feeling of the 25 million Nigeriens“, what he says”completely convinced“.

He wants to bring light to “the hostage-taking of the Nigeriens themselves, who will realize the situation in which they find themselves from today.“First of all, sanctions weigh on the country,”especially from Nigeria“but also Western countries,”through the reduction or elimination of international aid“. Finally, he worries about “the insecurity that will reign in the country” after the military took power.