In a sign of growing hostility towards the West since the coup in Niger, a businessman is proudly showing off clothes in the colors of the Russian flag, the BBC reports.
Niger’s ousted president, Mohamad Bazoum, is a staunch partner of the West in the fight against Islamist groups and has also forged economic cooperation. Niger is home to a French military base and is the world’s seventh-largest uranium producer.
After the coup, the colors of the Russian flag suddenly appeared on the streets of the country.
On the 30th of July, thousands of protesters filled Niger’s capital, Niamey, and the protest movement seems to be taking over the entire country.
Businessman in Zinder, about 800 kilometers from the capital, does not hide his support for Russia but wants to remain anonymous. He said that he stands up for Russia because France has only deprived his country of its resources.
He said that thousands of supporters of the military coup took part in Monday’s protest. The businessman allegedly ordered clothes in the colors of the Russian flag from a local seamstress and denied that pro-Russian groups had paid for it.
Niger has a population of 24.4 million, and two out of every five live in poverty,
living on less than 2.15 dollars a day.
Bazoum was elected in 2021 in the democratic elections, which were the first since independence in the 1960s. Under pressure from Islamists raging in the Sahara desert and the Sahel region, Niger’s neighbors in Mali and Burkina Faso have been seized by the military, saying such leadership will allow them to better fight jihadists.
A significant number of French soldiers were also present in Mali and Burkina Faso. As extremist attacks continued despite the presence of French forces, anti-French sentiment grew in the region.
As soon as the military junta came to power in Mali, it expelled the French army from the country
and invited Russian mercenaries to the Wagner group. Likewise, UN peacekeepers were forced to leave Mali.
In Niger, the Bazoum administration routinely banned anti-French protests. In 2022, several groups started a wave of protests when the Bazoom administration approved the deployment of French army forces in Niger after their expulsion from Mali. One of the most important groups is M62, which is formed by a coalition of activists, social movements, and trade unions.
In April 2023, the M62 leader received a nine-month prison sentence for disturbing public order. It seems that the group has resumed its activities with new vigor after the coup.
It is not clear whether M62 is linked to the coup masterminds, the National Council for Safeguarding the Homeland (CNSP),
or to Russia.
In Zinder, a pro-Russian businessman is sure that Russia can help his country: “I want Russia to help with security and food. Russia can supply technology to improve our agriculture.”
Meanwhile, Moutaka, a farmer living in Zinder, rejected these arguments and said the coup would harm everyone.
Read also: West African countries threaten to use force against Niger coup leaders