In Agadez, several hundred people rallied to demand that the US military leave Niger.
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“We, the people of Agadez and all of Niger, are convinced that the presence of any foreign military base on our territory cannot be beneficial for our security and represents a form of neo-colonialism,” one of the speakers said from the podium at the rally.
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In the published photographs you can see the flags of Niger, Mali and Russia. Some came with placards, including one calling on the US to withdraw the military because “they don’t matter” in the African country. The sign on another reads: “This is Agadez, not Washington. US Army, leave.”
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In mid-March, the military in power in Niger announced the termination of the agreement with the United States, which allowed its soldiers to be in the republic. As Senior Colonel Amadou Abdraman, a member of the ruling National Council for the Defense of the Fatherland, said, this document was initially imposed, and the deployment of the American base violated all constitutional and democratic norms.
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The day before, the New York Times reported that the United States would soon withdraw a thousand troops from Niger. According to Reuters, citing a source, on Friday, April 19, Deputy Head of the State Department Kurt Campbell and the Prime Minister of the African country Ali Lamine Zein reached an agreement.
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Last summer, the Nigerian military announced on national television that President Mohamed Bazoum had been removed from power. Soon those who took power, led by the commander of the presidential guard, General Abdurakhman Tchiani, denounced the agreements with France and demanded the withdrawal of its troops.
