France expels two Nigerien intelligence agents, one suspected of monitoring dissidents in Paris

France has expelled two Nigerien intelligence agents stationed at the Niger embassy in Paris, reports RFI. The two men were declared persona non grata on September 16, 2026, and have since left French territory. The case was revealed on October 8, 2026, by Le Monde, which writes, citing a Nigerien source, that one of the two agents was suspected of monitoring Nigerien dissidents living in France. A diplomatic source confirmed the expulsion to AFP, referring to agents who had "no reason to be present" due to a lack of cooperation between the two countries.

Neither capital has officially communicated regarding this decision, which was taken nearly a month before becoming public knowledge.

What remains of a broken relationship

This episode further closes off a relationship already drained of its substance. Since the coup d'état of July 26, 2023, which brought General Abdourahamane Tiani to power and ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, Paris has not recognized the authorities in Niamey. At the end of August 2023, Niger ordered the departure of the French ambassador, Sylvain Itté. The last French soldiers left the country in December 2023, the month the French embassy in Niamey closed its doors. The Niger embassy in Paris, however, has remained open: it is now the last official channel between the two states.

Niamey has since turned toward Russia and tightened its ties with Bamako and Ouagadougou within the Alliance of Sahel States. The Malian precedent sheds light on the mechanics: in September 2025, France had already expelled two officials from the Malian embassy in Paris, following the arrest in Bamako of a French secret service agent, who was pardoned and released in August 2026, RFI recalls.

Diasporas, a terrain for surveillance

Beyond the standoff between states, the suspicion reported by Le Monde raises a question that directly concerns Africans in the diaspora: that of the freedom of speech for political exiles. If the alleged surveillance were confirmed, it would mean that leaving one's country is not enough to be safe from its services—a criticism long leveled at regimes both on the continent and outside of Africa.

At this stage, no charges have been made public against the two agents and nothing has been established through legal proceedings: the presumption of innocence applies. What remains is a verified fact: the last diplomatic link still standing between Paris and Niamey has just been weakened, and no African mediation has emerged to prevent it.