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Sources say that Niger security forces raid Orano offices, seizing phones.

Two sources said that security forces in Niger searched offices of local subsidiaries of Orano, securing phones and equipment. This comes months after Orano announced that authorities had taken control of the Somair mine.

Ibrahim Courmo, the local director, was also arrested, according to a source close to Orano.

Orano stated that it has "very little" information about the situation, as it lost operational control over its subsidiaries in December.

The company released a statement late Tuesday that said: "It appears that Nigerien police officers intervened on Monday, May 5 at the headquarters in Niamey of the Somair Cominak and Orano Mining Niger subsidiary companies, seizing equipment."

We are concerned by the current situation as we have been unable to reach the Orano representative on the ground in Niger.

Orano announced on December 4, that the Niger military government, which took power in a coup 2023, has taken control of Somair, a mine of which Orano holds about 63%. The government owns the rest.

Over the last year, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, two neighbouring countries have increased pressure on foreign mining firms.

In recent months, Malian authorities arrested foreign executives and confiscated gold stocks during negotiations with mining firms. Burkina Faso’s junta promised last month to seize more industrial mines owned by foreigners.

Orano announced that Niger had revoked a mining license for its Imouraren division in June 2024. GoviEx Uranium, a Canadian company, announced that it was stripped of the right to develop an uranium mine in Niger.

The three Sahel nations are all led by military regimes that have been in power since 2020. They are trying to distance themselves from the former colonial power France, both economically and militarily. (Reporting and writing by Boureima Balima and Moussa Ashkar; editing by Stephen Coates).

(source: Reuters)