The Niger interior ministry said that French Ambassador Sylvain Itte and his wife were in Niger illegally, Al Jazeera television reported.The Ambassador had been given 48 hours to leave the country on August 25 but has refused to leave. The French Foreign Ministry claims the order is illegitimate.
“We have sent them an order to comply with the decision of expulsion,” the Ministry said.
Meanwhile the Nigerien government issued a statement accusing French President Emmanuel Macron of pushing the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to invade the country as well as trying to “pit Nigeriens against each other.” They referred to recent statements by Macron as “further blatant interference in our domestic affairs,” Al Jazeera reported. “Macron is using ECOWAS to force the community to take part in the colonial project and make an invasion of our country.”
