Watch the moment 1000s of Nigerien protesters stormed French military base

Thousands of Nigeriens camped outside the French embassy in Niamey, capital of Niger, amid calls for the French to leave the country.

Videos available to GhanaWeb shows the multitude including persons from all aspects of society demanding the exit of the French, a demand by the current military junta.

The September 2, 2023 protest was the second day of protest after a vigil was held at the same premises a day prior.

At a point, the crowd broke through security barriers and stormed the facility which is an Air Base operated by the French.

The helpless security forces only looked on as the people raced through the main gate into the base even though there is no account of what happened when they got inside or how long they intended to stay in the camp.

Many people carried placards with anti-France inscriptions principally demanding that France leaves immediately, a similar demand was made by the junta in respect of Sylvain Itte, the French ambassador to Niger.

In the case of the Saturday protests, deputy head of the junta was present as people swarmed his car when he appeared at the venue. He was seen urging people to remain calm.

France formally rejected a demand to recall their ambassador on the request of the junta stressing that it would react if need be militarily to any threat on its nationals and their interests.

The junta hit back with a detailed statement that accused Paris of seeking to perpetrate it colonial exploitation of Niger, something it accused the ousted government of pandeing to.




Watch the moment protesters broke through security barrier into the base:

It appears that the 1st line of defence at the military base in Niger has been breached.

It is only a matter of time before they confront the French forces.
I hope this can be prevented.
The French do have a responsibility to end their provocation of Nigeriens and leave. pic.twitter.com/PuqaZjMC4s

— CECIL (@cecild84) September 2, 2023

????????????NIGER: Foule en colère et incontrôlable devant la base militaire française!!!

Plusieurs milliers de personnes se sont rassemblées samedi à Niamey pour exiger le départ immédiate de l'armée terroriste de la France au Niger.

Vive le Niger
Vive l'Afrique
À bas la FrançAfrique pic.twitter.com/yOKfRBID3f

— Jeune_Patriote✊???????????????????????????????????????????????? (@Jeune_Activiste) September 2, 2023

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