17 December 2011
An opposition politician in Niger Saturday demanded an independent enquiry into how a high school student and a woman were killed during clashes between police and demonstrators early this month.
Six top police chiefs have already been fired after the protests in the second city Zinder on December 6 and 7.
“We demand (President Mahamadou Issoufou) launch an independent enquiry to find all those responsible for these heinous crimes,” former prime minister Seini Oumarou told a rally.
“The violent response … is unacceptable and inexcusable.”
But in a televised speech marking the 53rd anniversary of Niger’s declaration of independence from France, Issoufou said an investigation was already under way.
“We will establish who was responsible and sanctions will be taken,” he said.
At the protests, demonstrators had gathered around a court house where opposition politician Aboubacar Mahamadou was on trial for “preparing protest demonstrations” against Issoufou, who had come to Zinder to open an oil refinery.
Oumarou heads the National Movement for the Development of Society, the party of former president Mamadou Tandja, who was ousted in a military coup in 2010.
In March, Oumarou lost to Issoufou in a general election that saw the restoration of civilian rule in the uranium-rich desert country. – ANP/AFP
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