Legal framework on freedom of religion and actual application
Niger, a landlocked country in western Africa, has experienced political instability for most of its history since becoming independent in 1960.
A clear demarcation is made between state and religion in the constitution of Niger’s seventh republic, promulgated on 25 November 2010. As a secular state, the constitution guarantees, among other things, the separation of powers, decentralisation, a multi-party system, and protection of civil and human rights.
Article 8 enshrines equality before the law, regardless of religious identity. Article 9 bans all “political parties with an ethnic, regionalist or religious character” or those “knowingly created with the purpose of promoting an ethnic group, a region, or a religion.” Religious communities must register with the authorities.
The country’s president, prime minister and the speaker of the National Assembly must take a religious oath when they assume office in accordance with their religion. Conversion is permitted. Large public events with the aim of proselytising are not allowed on security grounds.
Muslims make up the majority of the country’s population, but there are small ethno-religionist and Christian communities. Religious instruction is not allowed in state-run schools. Schools with religious sponsors must be approved by the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Education. The Office of Religious Affairs in Niger’s Ministry of the Interior is responsible for interfaith dialogue.
In June 2019, the National Assembly of Niger approved a law that reaffirmed freedom of religion upholding all existing legislation, as long as religious practices respect “public order and moral good.” Under the law, the government has the power to regulate and approve the construction of places of worship, the use of the places of worship and other religious facilities, and exert oversight over funding for such venues. The authorities have applied the law to check the spread of Wahhabism and the use of foreign money to build mosques, train imams and open Quranic schools. To counter this trend, the government has also established an Islamic forum of more than 50 local Islamic organisations to standardise local religious practices.
Of note is the growth of conservative Islamic clerics, for example the Izala community which has become an increasingly important societal force wherein, “Various Salafi clerics have emerged as government advisers, thereby shaping the debate over concrete policies”.
Later in 2019, the authorities adopted a National Worship Strategy (Stratégie nationale en matière de cultes) to manage and supervise religions and beliefs by promoting peaceful coexistence, preventing radicalisation and religious extremism, developing inter- and intra-confessional exchanges, and promoting international cooperation in religious matters.
Incidents and developments
Niger is principally an agriculturally based economy, which, although generating oil revenues and one of the world’s five largest uranium exporters, suffers from “extreme poverty, unsustainable and inefficient public spending, widespread illiteracy and a rapidly growing population”. Added to these worrying socio-economic circumstances is governance weakness, corruption, poor infrastructure, and a fragile judiciary. Notwithstanding these challenges, the nation is relatively stable compared to the problems facing Niger’s border countries of Mali, Burkina Faso, Libya, and Nigeria.
In the past few decades, Islamic extremism has been on the rise in Africa, particularly in the Sahel region. Niger has not escaped this trend. Jihadi groups like the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), al-Qaeda-affiliated groups, and the Nigeria-based Boko Haram are active in the country, each pursuing their own regional strategy.
Some major Islamic powers including Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia have also contributed to concerns of foreign religious interference by funding various local projects such as mosque renovation and construction as well as imam training, each bearing its traditional vision of Islam. In some cases, the foreign interests have contributed to a rise of extremism in Niger, of note the promotion of Wahhabism, an Arabian version of Salafism, by Saudi Arabia.
Extremist Islamist groups have been particularly active encroaching in western and southern Niger, where Nigerien authorities have effectively lost control, a situation hastened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Armed militants have targeted government actors (civil servants and security forces) as well civilians who take part in government initiatives, derailing, for example, the plan to implement the government’s National Worship Strategy.
Tillaberi, a region in south-western Niger bordering the countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, and Mali, has been a hotspot for extremist violence due to the presence of al-Qaeda as well as Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) affiliates. The latter controls large swathes near the borders with Burkina Faso and Mali, and its fighters have already come within 100 kilometres of the Nigerien capital of Niamey.
The violence has killed hundreds and displaced hundreds of thousands. As of 31 March 2023, Niger is host to more than 700,000 Persons of Concern (PoCs), including over 300,000 foreign refugees and asylum seekers and 360,000 internally displaced people (IDPs). Additionally, the insecurity has restricted access to humanitarian aid furthering the spiral of destitution affecting most Nigeriens, including Christians. The lack of security has made Christians particularly vulnerable with churches being attacked . Many practise their faith in private.
The Niger government has responded by imposing a state of emergency in several parts of the country and strengthening its military response through cooperative alliances with western powers and participating in regional G-5 security arrangements. This has enabled the Nigerien government to prevent foreign-based jihadist groups from establishing a permanent base. The following incidents are representative.
On 20 August 2021, suspected jihadis attacked a village in Tillaberi killing at least 19 Muslim civilians who had gathered for Friday prayers at the local mosque. A few days later, on 24 August 2021, approximately one hundred Boko Haram fighters moving from Lake Chad attacked an army post in Baroua, Diffa, a region in south-eastern Niger.
In October 2021, three police officers were killed, and several others wounded in a suspected jihadi attack on the Petelkole border post, south-western Niger, across from Burkina Faso.
In November 2021, at least 60 farmers and a dozen soldiers were killed in the so-called three borders region, south-eastern Niger, where Niger meets Mali and Burkina Faso.
In February 2022, French and other European special forces deployed in Mali in an anti-jihadi operation that had begun in 2013, moved to Niger following the cessation of their mission in Mali.
In early March 2022, suspected members of the Boko Haram group killed 10 people in villages near the town of Diffa, the capital of the Diffa region. Later that month, suspected jihadis attacked a bus and a truck killing 21 people in the troubled Tillaberi region.
Also in March, Nigerien authorities announced a plan by President Mohamed Bazoum to engage jihadis in peace talks to avoid further bloodshed.
In April 2022, the Nigerien parliament approved the deployment of more European troops to join the French and other European special forces already on the ground to counter the jihadi insurgency; this decision was opposed by some Nigerien parties who objected to the Western military presence.
In July 2022, Father Mauro Armanino, an Italian missionary and anthropologist, reported the abduction of a young Christian woman by jihadis who threatened her family. Out of a culture of fear, the incident was not made public until a month later. The missionary stated: “Not only Christian communities are the target of this orientation of the Islamic religion. And most Muslim believers […] are dismayed by what is happening in the Sahel area. In fact, the highest number of deaths are even recorded among the Muslim community”.
In late October 2022, an operation by Niger’s military in Tamou (Tillabery), which included airstrikes, resulted in the death of seven suspected terrorists and 24 wounded following the killing of two police officers. Soon after, civic organisations and advocacy groups challenged the official version of events, declaring that the death toll was much higher and that many of the victims were ordinary civilians working at an illegal gold mine where those suspected of killing the police officers had fled.
Against this background of violence, religions leaders have tried to engage in dialogue to ensure peaceful relations. Several initiatives have been undertaken during the period under review, as terrorist attacks took place with increased frequency.
The Muslim-Christian Interfaith Forum continued to meet, bringing together representatives of Islamic and Christian groups in regular gatherings to encourage interfaith dialogue and peace.
In the mid-2000s, SOS-Civisme Niger, an advocacy group, established Intra and Inter-Religious Dialogue Committees (Comités de Dialogue Intra et Inter Religieux, CDIR). Now present in all eight of the country’s regions, the group seeks to promote social cohesion and religious tolerance. In November 2022, a workshop was held involving traditional and religious leaders to build peace at the national and regional levels.
In January 2022, the Ephesia movement organised a meeting that brought together about 100 young Muslims and Christians (Catholics and Protestants) to facilitate interfaith dialogue and build peace. One of the speakers, a Muslim professor of philosophy, spoke of the need to get to know each other to respect and appreciate each other’s values and spirituality.
In Niamey, the diocese tasked itself with promoting Islamic-Christian dialogue and helping the most vulnerable. To sustain this effort, Father Rafael Casamayor, a member of the Society of African Missions (SMA), called for support for the missionaries who are maintaining their “presence in the country despite the current insecurity”.
In May 2022, the SMA market the 90th anniversary of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral in Niamey. In June 2022, in Dosso, a town in south-western Niger, Catholics celebrated 40 years since the founding of the local parish, which is dedicated to Saint Charles Lwanga.
In December 2022, Pope Francis met with the President of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, in the Vatican where they discussed security issues and migration trends in western Africa and the Sahel.
President Bazoum’s “outstretched hand” policy seems to have borne some fruits. The president, elected in 2021, initiated government talks with the Islamist groups Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP). These resulted in an almost 80 percent drop in violence in North Tillaberi in 2022. At the same time, the country’s military consolidated its presence in the area signalling to insurgent groups that it had the means to enforce any deal.
Prospects for freedom of religion
The situation of freedom of religion in Niger is complex and closely tied to broader societal trends. On the one hand, the Republic of Niger is formally secular with a clear separation of state and religion. On the other, the rise of conservative Islamic clerics, for example the Izala community, and their influence in political arenas have strained relations among Nigeriens, both among Muslims and between Muslims and other faith groups including Christians. Coupled with this is the growing presence of armed Islamist groups terrorising the civilian population in two major border regions of the country.
Violence by Islamist groups, government repression, and a foreign military presence have exacerbated existing social cleavages, draining public resources that could otherwise be invested in economic and social development not to mention used to counter climate-related vulnerabilities (like water shortages)in what the United Nations considers the least developed country in the world.
The government has taken steps to strengthen the military response while encouraging peacebuilding through its “outstretched hand” efforts towards jihadist groups. In civil society, efforts too have also been made to promote dialogue and peace. Although small, the local Catholic Church has been involved in this process, encouraging, and engaging in Islamic-Christian dialogue. Despite these efforts, challenges are formidable and present prospects for freedom of religion in Niger remain dim.
Niger