Niger’s opposition leader, Hama Amadou, who was involved in an alleged baby trafficking and sentenced to one year in prison, has returned to Niamey after more than three years in exile in France.
Back home Thursday afternoon, Amadou immediately went to visit his mother’s grave, who died on 24 October.
Amadou, who was sentenced in November 2015, was not worried by the police. As he returned a few days after the start of a dialogue between the ruling majority and the political opposition, observers report that his comeback is subsequent to his last recourse to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice.
Indeed, after his conviction related to that alleged imported babies’ scam, Hama Amadou’s lawyers brought an action before the ECOWAS Court of Justice for human rights violations.
Hama Amadou who lost the 2016 presidential election could not stand for the 2021 polls because of his conviction. His supporters have always denounced this exclusion, believing that this case of imported babies is in fact only a pretext to prevent their champion from becoming president.
In any case, the launch of the political dialogue suggests that a compromise is being reached so that Niger can effectively move towards peaceful elections in 2021, considering the terrorist unrest rife in far-eastern Diffa and western Tillabéry.
AS/ard/cat/lb/Dng/APA