Niger’s Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine delivered a scathing address at the United Nations General Assembly,accusing France of actively undermining his country’s sovereignty through what he called a “sneaky and subversive destabilization plan.”
Zeine alleged that since French troops were expelled from Niger in 2023,Paris has been “training,financing,and equipping terrorists” to incite inter-ethnic conflict and destabilize both Niger and the broader Sahel region. He also charged France with conducting a campaign of “disinformation and intoxication” aimed at discrediting Niger’s leadership,military,and institutions. Calling France “hostile force which,since the 19th century,has not disarmed and is still waging a total war against my country,” Zeine invoked Niger’s colonial past and the brutal Voulet–Chanoine mission of 1898. He cited recent atrocities allegedly committed by French forces,including the 2021 killing of protesters in Tera and the execution “in cold blood” of 44 worshippers in Fambita earlier this year.
Zeine accused France of sabotaging Niger’s development by blocking funding at international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF),World Bank,and African Development Bank (ADB). “France’s hateful desire” aims at “(scuttling) all our development projects by demobilizing certain investors to scuttle our progress,” he claimed. The Prime Minister also warned that ECOWAS military threats are being manipulated by France and reaffirmed Niger’s pivot away from Western influence,aligning more closely with regional allies Mali and Burkina Faso under the Alliance of Sahel States.
United News - unews.co.za