On July 26, a military Coup d'Etat took place in the country of Niger. Democratically-elected President Mohamed Bazoum was taken under arrest by his own Presidential Guards and is now in confinement. Bazoum was pro-U.S./EU, especially France. His Guards do not approve of the tight control exercised by France over Niger, and they see Niger's future as aligned with Russia.
The scalable map below shows the country of Niger - which is DIFFERENT from the other African nation named Nigeria.
Reading from a statement, Colonel Amadou Abdramane, seated and flanked by nine other officers, said defense and security forces had decided: "Put an end to the regime that you know due to the deteriorating security situation and bad governance." He went on to say Niger's borders are closed, a nationwide curfew declared, and all institutions of the republic are suspended.
The soldiers warned against any foreign intervention, adding that they will respect Bazoum's wellbeing.
Land-locked Niger, a former French colony, has become a pivotal ally for Western powers seeking to help fight "terrorists" and insurgencies, but they are facing growing objections from the new juntas in charge in Mali and Burkina Faso.
Niger is also a key ally of the European Union in the fight against "irregular migration" from sub-Saharan Africa.
France moved troops to Niger from Mali last year after its relations with interim authorities there soured. It has also withdrawn special forces from the nearby country of Burkina Faso amid similar tensions.
Within days of taking power, Niger's military DENOUNCED "Cooperation Agreements" with France, allowing French troops to be in the country. Specifically, Niger invoked a 30 days notice within the Cooperation Agreements telling the French their military must leave.
Here is the machine-translated letter (Page 1 only as it is relevant) from Niger to France telling them to leave:
The French REFUSE to leave.
France Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said bluntly “The possible departure of French soldiers in Niger is not on the agenda. All the efforts of the international community are aimed at forcing the junta to abandon its dangerous adventure that is detrimental to Niger and the region.”
At the publication of this story on August 8, 2023, there are about 1,500 French soldiers inside Niger. The French contingent has been in Niger continuously since 1979.
So what is the "dangerous adventure" referred to by the French Foreign Minister? Well, when the military coup took place, thousands of regular citizens in Niger came out in SUPPORT of the troops and one man sized-up the situation almost perfectly. He said, "Niger has Uranium, Diamonds, Gold, and oil, yet we live like slaves. This is unacceptable." Here's the video:
It's THAT simple. The people of Niger see the natural wealth their nation has, but they do not benefit AT ALL from their own natural wealth; France takes most of it!
For instance, Niger has a lot of Uranium. It is mined and shipped to France . . . which then gets seventy percent (70%) of its electric power from nuclear power plants.
Similarly, in another former French colony in Africa, Mali, the people there observed this inconvenient truth:
So France has no Gold mines, but has over 2400 TONS of gold in its Bank vaults. Mali has 860 Gold mines, but NO GOLD in any of its Bank vaults. So where is France getting all its Gold? Simple; they take it from Mali! The people of Mali, get no benefit from THEIR own natural wealth.
People in Africa have had enough of this type of thing going on, while THEY are forced to live like slaves.
The military in Niger has taken a bold first step to break the status quo. France is not happy.
Turns out, Europe is not happy, either. But there isn't much mention about WHY Europe is unhappy. So I did some digging and . . .
Turns out that Niger is right in the path of . . . . a proposed new OIL and GAS pipeline ! ! ! ! !
It would run from the well established oil/gas fields in nearby NIGERIA, up through Niger, through Algeria, where it would meet existing pipelines to supply Europe with Oil and gas.
CHEAP oil and gas.
But with the Russia-Ukraine conflict ongoing, and the hideous "Economic Sanctions" placed upon Russia by the US and Europe, Russia signed military agreements with a number of Africa nations. Here's a map showing the nations on the continent of Africa, that have signed military agreements with Russia:
- including Niger -- and now, suddenly, that whole pipeline thing. . . . just isn't happening for Europe.
As long as Europe continues to intentionally harm Russia, it seems that Russia will continue to fight back.
So now we see that Russia has gotten in the way of European plans -- again. Just like happened in Syria.
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