Thousands of supporters of the junta that took over Niger in a coup earlier this week marched through the streets of the capital, Niamey, on Sunday, July 30, waving Russian flags, chanting the name of the Russian president, and forcefully denouncing former colonial power France before storming its embassy.
The protestors marched through the city to the French embassy, and a door was lit on fire, according to a local source and videos seen by The Associated Press. Black smoke could be seen rising from across the city. The Nigerien army broke up the crowd of protesters. Earlier, a witness with Agence France-Presse said protesters had attempted to enter the embassy building.
Some demonstrators ripped off and stamped on a plaque bearing the words "Embassy of France in Niger," replacing it with Niger and Russian flags, while others shouted "Long live Russia," "Long live Putin," and "Down with France," AFP reported. On Saturday, Paris said it was suspending all development aid and budgetary support to Niger.
The French government on Sunday condemned the violence and demanded that local authorities protect the embassy. "Nigerien forces have an obligation to ensure the security of our diplomatic missions and consulates as part of the Vienna convention," the French foreign ministry said, condemning "all violence against diplomatic missions."
French President Emmanuel Macron said attacks on France and its interests would not be tolerated, and anyone who attacks French citizens will see an immediate response.
Russian mercenary group Wagner is already operating in neighboring Mali, and Russian President Vladimir Putin would like to expand his country's influence in the region, but it is unclear yet whether the new junta leaders are going to move toward Moscow or stick with Niger's Western partners.
Days after mutinous soldiers ousted Niger's democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, uncertainty is mounting about the country's future, and some are calling out the junta's reasons for seizing control.
The mutineers said they overthrew Bazoum, elected two years ago in Niger's first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence from France in 1960, because he could not secure the nation from growing jihadi violence. But some analysts and Nigeriens say this is just a pretext for a takeover that has more to do with internal power struggles than securing the nation.
Conflict experts say out of all the countries in the region, Niger has the most at stake if it turns away from the West, given the millions of dollars of military assistance the international community has poured in. On Saturday, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the continued security and economic arrangements that Niger has with the US hinged on the release of Bazoum, who remains under house arrest, and "the immediate restoration of the democratic order in Niger."
"France demands an immediate return to constitutional order under President Mohamed Bazoum, who was elected by the Nigeriens," the foreign ministry said on Saturday.
The African Union has issued a 15-day ultimatum to the junta in Niger to reinstall the country's democratically elected government. On Sunday, the West African regional bloc, known as ECOWAS, held an emergency summit in Abuja, Nigeria, and said it was suspending relations with Niger. Use of force, should Bazoum not be reinstated within a week, would be authorized, it said.
However, in a televised address on Saturday, Mohamed Toumba, one of the soldiers who ousted Bazoum, accused the upcoming meeting of making a "plan of aggression" against Niger and said it would defend itself.
Shortly after the ECOWAS reunion, Chad President Mahamat Deby arrived in Niger to lead mediation efforts, according to the Chadian state radio.
Authorities in Nigeria's northeastern Adamawa state on Sunday imposed a statewide round-the-clock curfew to stop widespread looting of food stores in the state capital Yola.
The looting saw hundreds of residents break into public and private warehouses storing grains and other commodities and cart them away.
"The Governor of Adamawa State... Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri has declared a 24-hour curfew on the state, effective immediately Sunday 30th July, 2023," Humwashi Wonosikou, the governor's spokesman, said in a statement.
Yahaya Nguroje, Adamawa state police spokesman, said security personnel had been deployed to enforce the curfew.
Last month Nigeria – the most populous country in Africa and the continent's largest economy – ended a fuel subsidy regime, leading to petrol prices quadrupling and food prices soaring.
Nigeria's economy has been weakened by recession and the fallout from Covid-19, making life hard for its 215 million citizens -- nearly half of whom live on less than $2 a day.
Online video footage shows residents of Yola looting sacks of grain, cartons of pasta and other household items from a warehouse of Nigeria's emergency management agency (NEMA).
The plunder prompted NEMA to put its warehouses across Nigeria on alert to forestall possible looting, according to agency sources.
Earlier this year the United Nations predicted that more than 25 million Nigerians would be a "high risk" of food insecurity in 2023.