The leaders of the military coup in Niger announced last Thursday, August 31, that they had ordered the country's police to expel the French ambassador.

Niger’s junta, which seized power in a coup on July 26, ordered French ambassador Sylvain Itte to leave the country within 48 hours on Friday, the foreign ministry said.

The Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum was detained in the presidential palace by the members of the Presidential Guard on July 26 in a coup d’etat which saw yet another military takeover in West Africa.