Nassirou Bodo, a well-known government critic, was placed under formal detention at Niamey’s main detention facility Wednesday evening, just days after posting inflammatory remarks against the military administration.
“He was remanded (…) at the Niamey courthouse following his arraignment,” reported the independent outlet Aïr Info Wednesday night. Civil society figure Kaka Touda later confirmed the detention on social media but did not disclose further details about the arrest, which followed a police questioning session.
Activist calls for year-long protest campaign against state violence
A leading private newspaper, L’Enquêteur, stated Thursday that Bodo is charged under Niger’s penal code for “publishing information likely to disrupt public order”. Days earlier, the activist had urged citizens to launch a “year-long campaign of protest and disapproval against social violence perpetrated by the state”, renewable from June 1st.
Among the alleged state abuses he highlighted were “rising insecurity in multiple regions” and the ongoing “unjust evictions” of residents from the Niamey airport area. Authorities claim the demolitions—targeting structures deemed “illegally built”—are necessary to mitigate “terrorist threats” following a January 29 attack on the facility, claimed by the Islamic State in the Sahel (EIS).
Since the military seized power last July, Niger has seen a sharp increase in arrests of journalists and civil society members on charges including defamation, national security breaches, and conspiracy against state authority. A total of 13 journalists were detained in 2025 alone, according to UN records, with three—including a Deutsche Welle correspondent—released in early May after months behind bars. Five others remain imprisoned.
Civil society leader Moussa Tchangari, jailed since December 2024, faces accusations of “apology for terrorism and undermining state security”.