Niger’s interim prime minister, Lamine Zeine Ali Mahaman, has launched strong accusations against France, alleging that the former colonial power is using terrorism as a tool to destabilise the Sahel nation. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, Mahaman demanded that Paris “remember and recognise its crimes” dating as far back as 1899.
He claimed that since the expulsion of French troops in 2023, France has pursued “a subversive underhand plan” against Niger, including training, financing, and arming terrorist groups, while also fuelling inter-ethnic tensions across the Sahel region.
Mahaman further accused France of orchestrating campaigns of “disinformation and intoxication” designed to discredit Niger’s leaders and institutions. He alleged that Paris has systematically worked against Niger’s economic growth by discouraging investors and opposing the country at key international financial bodies such as the IMF, World Bank, and African Development Bank.
Framing the crisis as a consequence of unresolved colonial history, Mahaman recalled the Voulet–Chanoine Mission of 1898–99, describing it as a violent French military expedition that led to mass killings, torture, and widespread atrocities in towns such as Tera, Djoundjou, and Zinder. He asserted that Nigeriens have not forgotten the brutality of colonial occupation, citing massacres, sexual violence, and the destruction of entire communities.
The prime minister also alleged recent violence, accusing French forces of killing demonstrators in Tera in 2021 and claiming that 44 Muslim worshippers were executed while praying in Fambita on March 1, 2025.
On economic exploitation, Mahaman criticised decades of uranium extraction, which he said left Niger with “misery, pollution, rebellion, corruption and desolation” while enriching France. He also warned of looming ECOWAS intervention, which he alleged was being used as a French strategy to maintain influence in Niger.
To confront these historical grievances, Mahaman announced the creation of a national commission of experts to document colonial abuses and resource exploitation. He closed his address with a solemn appeal: “On behalf of my country, Niger, I ask France to remember and recognise its crimes.”
The French government has not yet issued an official response to Mahaman’s remarks, which were first reported by TRT World.
