A demonstration is underway on Friday August 11 near the French military base in Niamey (Niger). Slogans hostile to France but also to ECOWAS, which decided Thursday evening to mobilize its standby force, are chanted by the protesters, were able to see journalists from AFP and TV5 Monde present on the spot. Several hundred demonstrators gathered on a roundabout in the Nigerien capital, a few streets from the French base and Diori Hamani international airport. Follow our live.
The African Union “concerned” by the detention of President Bazoum. The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, expressed “his deep concerns” on “the deterioration of the conditions of detention” of Niger’s elected President Mohamed Bazoum, judging “inadmissible” his treatment by the military junta that overthrew him on July 26. The leader also expressed his “firm support” to the decisions taken on Thursday by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), concerning the mobilization of an armed force to “restore constitutional order”.
The presidential couple in a precarious situation. According to one of Mohamed Bazoum’s daughters, the Nigerien president and his wife no longer have access to water or electricity in the accommodation where they are being held. “The food they have in the fridge, they can’t use it anymore. They don’t have any fresh meat or vegetables, only things like rice and pasta (…), which doesn’t is not good for their health”said Friday Zazia Bazoum in an interview with the Guardian.
ECOWAS is deploying its “standby force” to restore constitutional order. For the time being, the president of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray, has not specified the number of men constituting this force, their countries of origin and their current location. The official, moreover, reaffirmed “continuing commitment to the restoration of constitutional order, through peaceful means”. France has made it known that it supports “all conclusions” of ECOWAS.