By AFP 03 August 2023 | 9:39 am Hundreds of people backing the coup in Niger gathered Thursday for a mass rally in the capital Niamey with some brandishing giant Russian flags, AFP journalists said. The demonstrators converged at Independence Square in the heart of the city, following a call by a coalition of civil society associations on a day marking the country’s… Protesters hold an anti-France placard during a demonstration on independence day in Niamey on August 3, 2023. – Security concerns built on August 3, 2023 ahead of planned protests in coup-hit Niger, with France demanding safety guarantees for foreign embassies as some Western nations reduced their diplomatic presence. (Photo by – / AFP) Hundreds of people backing the coup in Niger gathered Thursday for a mass rally in the capital Niamey with some brandishing giant Russian flags, AFP journalists said. The demonstrators converged at Independence Square in the heart of the city, following a call by a coalition of civil society associations on a day marking the country’s 1960 independence from France. Issiaka Hamadou, one of the demonstrators, said that it was “only security that interests us,” irrespective of whether it came from “Russia, China, Turkey, 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. “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 struggling to contain a jihadist insurgency that flared in northern Mali in 2012, 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 shield them from the jihadists, whereas Russia would be a stronger ally. Latest 5 mins ago The Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs, Mohammed Auwal, has said the Apapa Area Command of the Service collected a total of N540,431,401,641 as revenue from January to July 2023. Spokesperson CSC Abubakar Usman in a statement said Auwal made this known at a farewell session with senior officers of the command. Auwal, who until Friday, July… 5 mins ago North Korea has “responded” to efforts by the United Nations Command to discuss American soldier Travis King, who ran across the border into North Korea last month and is believed to be detained by Pyongyang, the Command said on Thursday. 15 mins ago The Debt Management Office (DMO) says it is set to expand capital market offering, by listing its N130 billion Sovereign Sukuk on the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) and the FMDQ Securities Exchange Ltd. The DMO made this known in a statement obtained from its website on Thursday. According to the statement, listing of the N130… 19 mins ago US President Joe Biden called on Thursday for the immediate release of Niger’s elected President Mohamed Bazoum and for the country’s democracy to be preserved. 20 mins ago US President Joe Biden called on Thursday for the immediate release of Niger’s elected President Mohamed Bazoum and for the country’s democracy to be preserved. “I call for President Bazoum and his family to be immediately released, and for the preservation of Niger’s hard-earned democracy,” Biden said in a statement Thursday, the 63rd anniversary of…
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