Demonstrators gather outside a French military base and demand the withdrawal of the ambassador and around 1,500 soldiers.
Thousands of people have gathered in the Nigerian capital Niamey demanding that France withdraw its ambassador and troops from the West African country as its new military rulers accused Niger’s former colonial master of “interference.”
The demonstrators gathered near a base housing French soldiers following a call from several civic organizations hostile to the French military presence. They held up banners that read: “French army, leave our country.”
Nigeria’s military government, which seized power on July 26, has accused French President Emmanuel Macron of using divisive rhetoric in his comments on the coup and trying to impose a neo-colonial relationship with his former colony.
Macron has supported ousted President Mohamed Bazoum and refused to recognize the new rulers. Sylvain Itte, France’s ambassador, has remained in Niger despite a 48-hour deadline to leave more than a week ago, a decision Macron said he “welcomes.”
Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris reported from Niamey that protesters, expressing frustration that there was still a French presence in the country, had begun to take matters into their own hands.
According to security personnel, the protest was scheduled to begin at around 3:00 p.m. (2:00 p.m. GMT), but by 10:00 a.m. (09:00 GMT) thousands of demonstrators had already gathered, surprising police and security forces.
Idris said the protests that have taken place in recent days have been “relatively calm and organized,” but on Saturday protesters were seen “breaking through the barriers erected by the security forces, the police and the military” and joining the Army approached base, with some attempting to enter by force.
The military has since reinforced the area around the French base, where about 1,500 French soldiers are stationed, warning of a violent entry and the associated consequences.
“I speak to President Bazoum every day”: Macron
The military rulers accused Paris of “blatant interference” by supporting Bazoum, who has been imprisoned since the July 26 coup.
Macron’s comments in support of Bazoum “constitute further blatant interference in Niger’s internal affairs,” Col. Amadou Abdramane said in a statement read on national television.
Macron said on Friday that he had spoken to Bazoum daily since his fall.
“We support him. We do not recognize the putschists. “The decisions we will make, whatever they may be, will be based on the exchanges with Bazoum,” Macron said.
The Sahel country is also embroiled in a standoff with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The regional bloc has threatened to intervene militarily if diplomacy fails to return Bazoum to office.
On Monday, Macron said: “I call on all states in the region to adopt responsible policies.”
France, he said, “supported [ECOWAS’s] diplomatic action and, if it decides to do so, [its] military intervention.