Niger: Bloody rioting follows the release of Charlie Hebdo
45 churches, 5 hotels, 36 bars, 1 orphanage and 1 Christian school were looted before being set on fire, and 5 persons were killed in Niamey, the capital of Niger, during the protests against the caricature of Mohammed published on the front page of Charlie Hebdo on January 17th. According to an article of the Parisien dated January 19th, a French flag was also burned. A mourning period of three days was decreed by the government.
“Anti-Charlie” riots resulted moreover in 5 deaths and 45 injured the previous day in Zinder (the second largest city of the country, in the southeast) where several churches have been set on fire. According to an article published on the site of RFI on January 17, 2015, the protestors filled the streets of Zinder shouting “Allah akbar” (God is great) following the Friday prayers. Faithful from several mosques made their way downtown, “breaking and destroying everything they passed”. Some protestors wore bands on their foreheads with Arabic writing, They tore up several intersections of the city, burned a French flag and then set fire to the largest library, that of the Franco-Nigerien cultural centre. Not far away, the head office of the main political party, the PNDS, also went up in smoke. Faced with the blind violence of protestors who wanted to burn several persons alive who had taken refuge in the Catholic mission, the army intervened to evacuate the non-Moslems.
The Nigerien head of state, Mahamadou Issoufou, was one of six African heads of state to participate in the protest of January 11th in Paris after the terrorist attack that decimated the editorial staff of Charlie Hebdo. According to an article published on jeuneafrique.com January 19th, his words, “We are all Charlie,” provoked a torrent of anger among the population, 98% Moslem. On January 16th in Agadez (north), protestors chanted, “Down with the government!” and the office of the party of the head of state was also burned down.
Interrogated by RFI on January 19th, Souleymane Galadima, in charge of communications for the Catholic group Caritas Niger, stated that today, “as a Christian, I feel targeted. My church has been pillaged and destroyed. It is not France [who was targeted], it is my church. […] All Nigeriens are surprised. This is the first time that we have seen such things.” Jeuneafrique.com opined, “Whatever is to be, one thing is certain: as in the rest of Sahel, Islam and the Wahhabi influence are no doubt more widespread than anyone wished to think…”
(Sources: kipa-apic.ch – Le Parisien – RFI – jeuneafrique.com – DICI no. 309, 30/01/15)
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