Niger: Further Crackdowns on Former Government Officials

Niger's military junta, under the command of General Abdourahamane Tchiani, announced on October 10th the removal of the nationality of nine officials who had served under civilian President Mohamed Bazoum, who is currently under house arrest.The stripping was the result of 'various offenses' allegedly committed by the nine officials relating to terrorism and undermining the security or fundamental interests of the nation.One particular former Minister who had his nationality stripped, Rhissa Ag Boula, heads the anti-junta group Conseil de la Resistance pour la Republique du Niger (CRR) and has since August been residing under political asylum in France..What You Need to KnowThe nine officials stripped of their nationality are as follows:- Rhissa Ag Boula- Pagoui Hamidine Abdou- Amadou Ngade Hamid- Abdoul Kader Mohamed- Abou Mahamadou Tarka- Daouda Djibo Takoubakoye- Karingama Wali Ibrahim- Harouna Gazobi Souleymane- Moussa Moumouni"The above-mentioned persons are suspected in particular of carrying out activities likely to disturb public peace and security; of collusion with a foreign power, with a view to encouraging it to undertake hostilities against the state, by providing it with the means, by facilitating the penetration of foreign forces into Nigerien territory, by undermining the loyalty of the armies, or in any other way; of plotting against the authority of the state and of treason; of participating in an enterprise to demoralize the army or the nation with the aim of harming national defense and of disseminating data or remarks likely to disturb public order," the junta said in a press release.In late September, Rhissa Ag Boula announced the creation of the Free Armed Forces (FAL), a military and political movement seeking to overthrow General Tchiani's junta.In early October, the Coordination of Free Armed Forces of Niger (CFLN), a coalition between Rhissa's FAL, Mamoud Sallah's Patriotic Liberation Front (FPL), Asouma Tcheke's Movement for Justice and Rehabilitation of Niger (MJRN), and Gafti Al-Abid's MADP (a relatively unknown anti-junta movement).The CFLN coalition seeks to "fight for the restoration of democracy and the liberation of the elected president, Mohamed Bazoum," according to the coalition's press release on the matter.Earlier, on August 25th, a four-day meeting between the leaders of Mali's Permanent Strategic Framework for the Defense of the People of Azawad (CSP-DPA) and the Commander-in-Chief of Niger's Patriotic Liberation Front (FPL), held in Tinzaouaten, Mali, sought to discuss the creation of a mutual assistance pact "in the event of aggression by the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)."The possible forging of ties between the FPL—which holds a large Tuareg population—and the CSP-DPA follows the pledging of support of the Conseil de la Resistance pour la Republique du Niger (CRR) in early August.The broadening of coalitions between internal anti-junta groups and external anti-junta groups signals a growing resistance to the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) military juntas, although stopping short of open armed conflict—with the exception of the CSP-DPA.Just how the CFLN chose to wage its resistance against the Nigerien junta is yet to be seen, although with Rhissa Ag Boula now without citizenship, a multifaceted resistance may be unfeasible.