A French mining company sues Niger after its director disappears and offices are raided

French uranium mining company Orano has sued the government of Niger after the disappearance of its director and the raiding of its local offices, as military authorities in the west African country tighten their grip on foreign companies and civil society. "Orano deplores this intervention, for which no legal basis nor reason has been offered," Orano said in a statement late Tuesday, accusing authorities of arbitrary arrest, illegal detention and "unjust confiscation of the property of Nigerien companies, subsidiaries of Orano and the State of Niger itself." The company's director was reportedly detained earlier this month. The company says the raids in Niamey, the capital, seized staff's electronic devices and cellphones. Niger's military authorities did not respond to a request for comment. Orano has been operating in Niger - the world's seventh biggest supplier of uranium - for over 50 years, but last year the military authorities withdrew the company's operating permit for the Imouraren uranium mine, with reserves estimated at 200,000 tons. The authorities also took operational control of Orano's subsidiary, Somair, which operates the only active uranium mine in the country near the town of Arlit.

The military authorities seized power in 2023 on the pledge of cutting ties with the West and vowed to review mining concessions. Before that, Niger was the West's major economic and security partner in the Sahel, the vast region south of the Sahara Desert that has been a hot spot for violent extremism. In other developments, the founder and director of the private Sahara FM radio station, Ibrahim Manzo, said Wednesday that authorities had arrested three of its staff members in the central city of Agadez and accused them of spreading fake news. Although Niger's transitional authorities recently released political prisoners in an attempt to calm the political climate, such arrests continue.