In Niger, nationality is no longer a birthright but a privilege that can be revoked at the whim of those in power. Since the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) seized power by force in July 2023, the crackdown on dissidents and critical voices has reached a dangerous new level. General Abdourahamane Tiani no longer settles for silencing opponents through imprisonment or exile: he now erases their legal existence. By turning citizenship revocation into a systematic tool of governance, the military junta in Niamey enforces a perilous doctrine in which political disagreement is equated with high treason.
A legal weapon forged for authoritarian rule
The repressive arsenal was strengthened in late August 2024 when General Tiani signed an ordinance establishing the “National Register of Individuals Involved in Acts of Terrorism or Threats to State Security.” Behind this catch-all label and the convenient pretext of counterterrorism lies a legal blade aimed at the political class, civil society, and the army.
The most toxic provision of this framework allows for the temporary or permanent revocation of Nigerien citizenship against anyone suspected of “activities likely to disturb peace and security,” “regionalist or xenophobic remarks,” or “collusion with a foreign power.” These deliberately vague criteria turn any protest cry or simple editorial criticism into grounds for national repudiation.
The machinery of repression under the CNSP
- Creation of the “Security Threats” register (August 2024)
- Asset freezes and travel bans for opponents
- Signing of presidential decrees revoking citizenship
- Confiscation of ID documents and creation of legal statelessness
A blacklist that grows with each decree
The regime’s target list expands with every presidential decree. Waves of removals methodically target the circle of deposed President Mohamed Bazoum, former ministers, and key opposition figures.
| Targeted individual | Role / Functions | Reason cited by the junta |
|---|---|---|
| Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou | Former Prime Minister | Alleged intelligence with a foreign power |
| Hassoumi Massoudou | Former Foreign Minister | Threat to national security and conspiracy |
| Rhissa Ag Boula | Former Minister of State, head of the Resistance Council (FRR) | Reforming an armed group, incitement to uprising |
| Alkache Alhada | Former Interior and Trade Minister | Dissemination of data disturbing public order |
| Amadou Barou Chekaraou | Former state apparatus executive | Threat to state security and advocacy of violence |
Alongside these major political figures, civil society actors, media activists such as Mariama Djibrine (alias Mayra), and former senior military officers have seen their identity confiscated by simple executive decree. With a stroke of the pen, men and women born on Nigerien soil, who served the country for decades, find themselves administratively banished, transformed into virtual stateless persons, stripped of passports, bank accounts, and all civic rights.
The patriotic illusion of a flight forward
The CNSP’s rhetoric rests on a permanent mystification: the deliberate confusion between the nation and the military power in place. For General Tiani, challenging the junta is equivalent to betraying Niger. This populist stance seeks to flatter the population’s sovereigntist sentiment while masking the total absence of political prospects and the deteriorating security situation in the tri-border area.
In reality, this purge through citizenship betrays deep insecurity. A power confident in its popular legitimacy and territorial control does not need to hand out certificates of patriotism or manufacture stateless persons to rule. By hermetically sealing off channels of republican dialogue and confiscating the nationality of its opponents, the junta only hardens resentment and pushes dissent toward clandestinity or armed action.
A flagrant violation of international commitments
On the international legal front, the Tiani government’s decisions directly violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose Article 15 clearly states that “everyone has the right to a nationality” and that “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality.” By applying these sanctions retroactively, extrajudicially, and without the guarantee of a fair trial before an independent court, the Nigerien authorities flout the regional and international conventions that Niger has signed.
Jurists and human rights organizations are sounding the alarm: by creating a precedent where nationality becomes a reward for loyalty to an authoritarian regime, the CNSP undermines the very notion of citizenship. If being Nigerien now depends on the goodwill of the junta leader, the entire republican edifice collapses.
An autocratic drift with no way out
By turning nationality into a political adjustment variable, Abdourahamane Tiani’s regime shows its true face: that of an autocracy in a flight forward, incapable of tolerating the slightest contradiction. Depriving people of their identity will not lower the price of basic commodities in Niamey or restore security in the Liptako-Gourma region.
History teaches that regimes that strip their citizens of their papers out of fear of debate always end up losing their own legitimacy. General Tiani would do well to remember that a people’s identity is rooted far deeper than a military decree, no matter how peremptory.
