THE director of L’Enquêteur, the main private Niger newspaper, he was arrested last week and was remanded yesterday Monday in a detention center in the capital Niamey, as he is accused by the authorities of having managed “a blow to the national defense”, his lawyer told AFP.

“Idrissa Sumana Maiga (…) was detained in Niamey prison by order of a judge for ‘attacking national defence’,” said his lawyer, Kafugu Ousmane Ben.

According to the criminologist, the arrest and imprisonment of his principal are related to an article published in L’Enquêteur on April 25, under the title “Alleged installation of wiretapping equipment in public buildings by Russian agents”: in the text, the newspaper asked “who exactly what are tracking targets and why”.

Mr Sumana Maiga was taken into custody on Thursday and arraigned yesterday Monday before a judge, according to a statement by the Collective Action Framework for Media Professionals (CAPM), recently formed by Nigerian journalists. CAPM demanded that the newspaper’s director be “released”.

After the coup that overthrew the elected president Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, 2023, the new military regime very quickly demanded and secured the withdrawal of a contingent of the armed forces of the former colonial power, France, and turned to Russia, just as it also happened in Mali and in Burkina Faso, Sahel states facing the violence of jihadist organizations, where the military has seized power.

On April 10, about a hundred Russian instructors arrived in Niamey. Niger’s new regime also received the first shipment of Russian military hardware.

Russian trainers are expected to install an “air defense system” in Niger and “guarantee the quality training” of Nigerian soldiers “for its effective use”, according to the authorities.

In March, Niamey denounced a military cooperation agreement with the US in force and ruled that the presence of US forces, which had been deployed in the country as part of the anti-jihadist fight, was now “illegal”.

Washington agreed in mid-April to withdraw the 1,000-plus troops it has deployed in the Sahel state; “talks” are underway with Niamey about the details of their withdrawal.