NIGER BLOCKS FRENCH MEDIA, ENDS MILITARY DEALS!

In the wake of sanctions and manoeuvres by the West against Niger’s military government, Niamey has banned broadcasts of RFI and France 24, media outlets funded by the French government. It’s the third time that the two media outlets have been banned in the region in less than two years - they were taken off air in Burkina Faso and Mali for providing a platform to terrorist groups and fomenting dissent against the two governments that replaced pro-France regimes. In their reporting of the latest events in Niger, the two outlets have focused on the condemnation of the new government by Western governments and regional bodies such as ECOWAS, ignoring the voices of the thousands of people who have thronged the streets to give their stamp of approval to the new leaders.

The new government has also revoked five longstanding military deals with former colonial power France. The deals, which date back to the 1970s, were inked with previous governments to enhance security. But they have failed to curtail a growing Islamist insurgency in the country, one of the factors which triggered the recent military takeover.