In Niger, the demonstration was first authorized by the courts, before being finally banned on appeal. The Tournons La Page (TLP) coalition still wanted to demonstrate to denounce the presence of foreign troops in the country, but the police cordoned off the main places in Niamey, preventing any gathering.
With our correspondent in Niamey, Moussa Kaka
Despite the ban on the demonstration of the Let’s Turn the Page coalition and in the absence of those in charge on the ground, young people defied this ban.
Place Toumo, the main rallying point for the demonstrators, before starting their peaceful march, was stormed in the early hours of the morning by riot police.
It is the same for the main square of the National Assembly, place of the meeting. There too, several police vehicles cordoned off the access, making it inaccessible to demonstrators.
It is therefore in the neighboring alleys that the first crowds of young people were dispersed by the police and the National Guard. This is the case in front of the Canada school, at the Eglise roundabout and on the boulevard du Grand Marché where we witness exchanges of tear gas canisters and batons facing the stones thrown by the demonstrators.
Wherever the police intervened, the demonstrators were dispersed. The number of demonstrators arrested by the police is not yet known. The two main leaders of the Turn the Page coalition could not be reached by phone.
Read also: Niger: the ban on the demonstration of the opposition is debated in Niamey
Recall that this demonstration, banned, was intended to protest against the presence of foreign forces in Niger. The French forces are particularly targeted.
