West Maintains Insecurity in Niger to Exploit Resources: Expert on Revision of Military Agreements

Foreign military bases in Niger do not even have trained military personnel, instead their staff are often "civilian and military engineers who come to conduct research on mineral and subsoil resources," Issoufou Boubacar Kado Magagi, a Nigerien analyst and former inspector general of state, told Sputnik Africa.

Magagi made the statement while commenting on the Nigerien authorities' plans to review all military cooperation agreements with states that have a military contingent in the country.

"There used to be no military bases in Niger; it was the French who were involved in the 1974 coup d'état, and now we've asked them to leave," Magagi said. "Thanks to these military bases, the Westerners maintain insecurity in order to distract the leaders of the countries where their bases are located. So they distract you, and on the other hand they exploit our resources."

According to the former inspector general, it's this kind of Western exploitation that is behind Niamey's decision to call for the revision of these agreements. He noted that "some of them will certainly be canceled."

Magagi noted that despite the presence of these foreign military bases in Niger, terrorist groups continued to "wreak havoc in our villages and towns, creating terror everywhere".

"It was an evil that they spread throughout the national territory, and since we started to get these military bases to leave, we've seen that the fight against insecurity is producing impressive results, especially with the pooling of efforts and resources of the Liptako-Gourma countries," he said, referring to the joint efforts of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger against terrorist groups under the Liptako-Gourma Authority (LGA) regional organization.

The political analyst stressed that Niger has the right to demand accountability and to know "for what interests these bases are there."

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"If a country wants to keep its bases in our country, we need to know what we're getting in return," Magagi said.

Commenting on the recently signed memorandum of understanding between Russia and Niger aimed at strengthening military cooperation between Moscow and Niamey, Magagi suggested that such an agreement was signed after Niamey saw the format of cooperation with African countries in the field of defense and security proposed by Moscow.

He cited neighboring Mali's cooperation with Russia as a prime example of how military cooperation with Moscow differs from cooperation with Western countries.

"Thanks to Russia's material aid and thanks to the equipment that Russia has donated today, the Malian army is in the process of regaining all the territory occupied by the terrorists," the expert said. "It is no secret that these terrorists are armed by France. France maintains insecurity in the Sahel for geostrategic and geopolitical reasons."

Magagi added, "France has been mining our uranium for more than 50 years, but we still have problems with electricity supply to our villages and towns." He also expressed hope that Russia would finally help the West African nation achieve electricity independence.

"Now, thanks to this cooperation, which the countries of the Alliance of Sahel States have renewed with Russia, we believe that there will be an improvement in security, and the three countries [Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger] will have time to deal with the economy and finance," Magagi concluded. "When we create our own currency, we'll be able to trade with the BRICS countries, and all those emerging countries that can do win-win cooperation with us."