The investigations carried out by Niger and France did not make it possible to determine the circumstances of the death of three demonstrators during clashes, at the end of November 2021, at the passage of a convoy of the Barkhane force near Burkina Faso and Mali, according to the Nigerian government.
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This military convoy, which left Abidjan to join Gao in Mali, was first blocked and stoned by demonstrators in Kaya in central Burkina Faso.
He had resumed his journey before being again interrupted by angry demonstrators in Téra, in western Niger.
Three of them had been killed, in shots attributed to Nigerien or French forces.
On December 17, 2021, the Nigerien President, Mohamed Bazoum, had "
demanded from the French authorities
" an investigation into the clashes and "
ordered an investigation
" from Niger.
“Serious shortcomings”
"
As the exploitation of the results of the investigation by the Niger gendarmerie and the French army did not make it possible to identify the exact course of the events which caused the death and injuries of the demonstrators, Niger and France decided to ensure together the compensation of the families of the victims as well as of the wounded
”, underlines a press release from the Nigerien Ministry of the Interior published Tuesday evening.
The amount of this compensation "
in equal parts
" between the two countries for each of the victims, has not been revealed.
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The investigation conducted by the Nigerien gendarmerie "
highlighted serious shortcomings in the system of maintaining order planned to manage this situation
" by Niger, which "
led the French army to use force to extract pressure from protesters
,” the statement said.
"
The investigation carried out by the French army, for its part, while acknowledging the use of force by the convoy to extricate itself from the crowd which threatened it, concludes that the facts took place under regulatory conditions by means of warning shots
,” he adds.
In addition to the three demonstrators killed, 17 civilians, seven Nigerien gendarmes and seven French soldiers, had been injured, specifies the text.
The demonstration "
which was far from being a spontaneous event
", "
involved several people
", "
most of whom were young students
", according to the ministry.
Paris and Niamey “
welcome their collaboration in this particularly sensitive file
” and “
are delighted with the solution obtained
”, saluting “
the memory of the deceased
”, says the press release.
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Following these incidents, the Nigerien president replaced his Minister of the Interior, Alkache Alhada, as well as the High Commander of the National Gendarmerie, General Salifou Wakasso.
Niger has to deal with regular and deadly attacks by jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in the Sahel in the West, and those of Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa (Iswap ) in the Southeast.
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