Several hundred people demonstrated peacefully on September 18, 2022 in the streets of the Nigerien capital Niamey and in another city in the country to protest in particular against the French force Barkhane which is fighting the jihadists in the Sahel. It is the first mobilization of its kind in the country which is home to several French military bases.
The two demonstrations in Niamey and in the city of Dosso (south-west) were organized at the call of a movement called “M62” bringing together several civil society organizations. It was launched last August under the theme of “safeguarding the sovereignty and dignity of the people”. On the program: social demands but also opposition to the French presence in Niger. In a speech at the rally, the leader of the movement, Abdoulaye Seydou, called for the departure of the Barkhane force accusing it of destabilizing the Sahel. He clearly aligns himself with the position of the ruling junta in Mali.
The indifference of the authorities in the face of the terrorist acts of Barkhane in Mali and the reception in illegal conditions, in flagrant violation of the fundamental law of this evil force on our Niger territory (…), sufficiently prove the complicity of our authorities and their submission to the dictates of France.
Abdoulaye Seydou, coordinator of the “M62” movement
Rallies in Niger were punctuated with anti-French and pro-Russian slogans: “Barkhane outside”, “Down with it (France)“, “Long live Putin and Russia”… These cries that echoed in the streets of Niger have already been heard in other countries of the Sahel. In Mali first, with the first anti-French demonstrations in 2013. Much later, others followed. They were mostly orchestrated by pro-Russian movements like Yerewolo led by Adama Diarra, reports BBC.
There were also mobilization attempts last August in Burkina Faso at the call of a movement called M30 Naaba Wobgo, led by Yéli Monique Kam (paying link) and which accused France of being the “godfather of terrorism” in the Sahelian zone. The country had nevertheless already experienced demonstrations of this kind.
The anti-French feeling that is spreading in the Sahel is not due to Russia, but it is exploited and instrumentalized by Moscow, which has been multiplying maneuvers for years to increase its influence in Africa. The context is favorable to it: in Niger as in Burkina Faso and Mali, the populations are overwhelmed by the violence that is shaking their country and do not understand why France, with its military power, is not capable of curbing terrorism. .
Since the total withdrawal from Mali, some 3,000 French soldiers are still deployed in the Sahel, particularly in Niger, which has been home for years to many foreign military bases, American in particular, whose mission is to fight jihadists in the Sahel.