AFRICAN diaspora communities protested against any French military intervention in Niger outside the country’s London embassy today.

Activists from Niger, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo and their supporters denounced the “illegal military intervention to reinstate deposed President Mohamed Bazoum” following last month’s coup, in which the presidential guard seized power.

France has denied allegations by the coup leaders that its forces have freed captured terrorists (French troops are based in Niger, supposedly as part of a regional mission against Islamist terror organisations).

The coup has been condemned by the regional Ecowas organisation, which threatened military intervention to restore the elected president and whose leaders met again today to discuss the crisis.

But it has mobilised large crowds in support in Niger’s capital Niamey, and backing from the military rulers of neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, which vowed to fight alongside Niger against any foreign intervention.

The protest organised by the Diaspora Association of Niger Republic Nationals in the United Kingdom (Darn-UK), The African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity London (Pastef) and other Pan-Africanist groups  said the movement in the Sahel seeks to liberate the African region from “French exploitation” amid calls for a “free Africa.”

Darn-UK president Abdoul Kader Amadou Mossi said the people of Niger staged a protest to show their full support to the military regime last Friday, adding: “The international community must respect the will of the people of Niger, who shall decide its own direction.

“We support the Nigerien people in their desire for sovereignty and independence.

“Our message is very simple and clear: we are asking for all foreign military bases to leave our country as soon as possible. We also want to manage our own affairs without external interference.

“We want to be independent and free from France, as they are still involved in Niger affairs by illegally exploiting our natural resources that have been confiscated by the corrupt authorities.”

Hodenou Yaovi Jeff Segnikin, ex-general secretary of Togo Union UK, said: “The new generation of African people clearly understand that French colonialism never ceased in the 1960s but has instead, been intensified through the shadowy system known as France-Afrique.”

Myriam Kane of Black Liberation Alliance added: “We strongly oppose any military intervention in Niger by France backed by the US or its proxies in the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).

“We stand in solidarity with the anti-imperialist coups in Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea. We call for the release of Sonko and political prisoners in Senegal.

“These movements have the support of large sections of the population because they cannot tolerate France’s exploitation of resources such as gold, uranium and oil while the people suffer.”