United Nations — Lamine Zeine Ali Mahaman, Prime Minister of Niger's interim government, has criticised former coloniser, France, stating that the European country is using "terrorism" to undermine his Sahel nation, and demanding that Paris "remember and recognise its crimes" in the country since 1899.
"Since French troops were cast out from [Niger] in 2023, the government of France has established a subversive underhand plan to destabilise my country," Mahaman charged in his UN General Assembly [UNGA] speech on Saturday.
The Niger leader accused France of "training, financing and equipping terrorists" and trying to create the conditions for "inter-ethnic conflict" in Niger and the Sahel region.
He stated that Paris has initiated a campaign of "disinformation and intoxication" aimed at discrediting his country, its institutions, political leaders, and military.
Mahaman told the UNGA that France was fueling "political tension between my country and some of our neighbours," adding France is hindering Niger's development projects and voting against it in financial institutions.
"This consists in particular of France's hateful desire to scuttle all our development projects by demobilising certain investors and systematically voting against my country at the level of all international financial institutions such as the ADB, the IMF and the World Bank," he said.
Current events in the Sahel, particularly Niger, stem from multiple factors, he said.
"First, a colonial liability that has not yet been settled. Nigeriens have never forgotten the unprecedented violence that characterised the colonial occupation. The infamous Voulet and Chanoine mission and other military expeditions were notable for the large-scale death and torture they sowed in Tera, Djoundjou, Doutchi, Konni, Tessaoua and Zinder," he said.
The Voulet–Chanoine Mission aimed to seize the Chad Basin and unite French West Africa. Launched from Senegal in 1898, it's also known as the Central African-Chad Mission.
Niger’s leader said he is addressing "the conscience of the world to point the finger at this hostile force which, since the 19th century has not disarmed, and is still waging a total war against my country."
He accused the French army of killing demonstrators on November 27 2021 in the city of Tera, adding that in Fambita, on March 1 2025, 44 Muslim worshippers were "executed in cold blood whilst praying".
He said there is a threat of military intervention by Economic Community of West African States [ECOWAS] "exploited by France".
ECOWAS is a regional political and economic union of twelve countries of West Africa.
'A dark period in history'
"These crimes remind us of those committed by France in Niger since 1899 and which still bleed into our collective memory," he said.
"In the name of human rights, I speak of the innocent victims of the Central Africa Mission, I speak of the towns and villages pillaged and burned, I speak of the carnage of Djoundjou and Lougou, I speak of the martyred towns — Kouran Kalgo, where the population was entirely exterminated, Birni N'Konni, where more than 7,000 dead were thrown into mass graves," he said.
"I speak on behalf of the disemboweled pregnant women and fetuses thrown to scavengers, I speak in the name of raped women and hanged girls, I speak on behalf of the men shot and the resistance fighters beheaded, on behalf of my country, Niger, I solemnly ask France to remember and recognise its crimes."
Mahaman said the Nigerien government has established a commission of experts to accurately document "a dark period in its history," aiming to restore dignity and address resource plundering.
"Indeed, half a century of exploitation, Uranium has brought to the Nigeriens nothing but misery, pollution, rebellion, corruption and desolation and to the French prosperity and power," he said.
He said since the ruling military leaders ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, French has sought to "drag us into endless trials to stop the exploitation of our ore."
"France's control over Nigerien political life and the presence of French troops in Niger, and indeed, until July 26, 2023, France has always considered Niger as part of its territory or even its property."
He said adversity has strengthened Niger's resolve to combat terrorists and their backers "until we achieve ultimate victory."
