Forty-five churches were torched over the weekend in Niger’s capital during deadly protests over the publication of a cartoon by the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, police said on Monday. The protests, which left five people dead and 128 people injured in Niamey, also saw a Christian school and orphanage set alight, Adily Toro, a spokesman for the national police, said.
Similar unrest sparked by the French satirical weekly, which was targeted by a bloody Islamist raid on January 7, saw five people killed in the southern city of Zinder, where 45 were wounded. In the attack on Charlie Hebdo, gunmen slew 12 people, saying they were avenging previous publications of cartoons depicting the prophet. A week later staff defiantly produced a “survivors’ issue” with a new cartoon, winning backing from vocal supporters of freedom of expression, but further provoking Muslims in a number of countries.
“The French flag was burned,” Toro said, adding that 189 people, including two minors, were arrested by police. Demonstrators also burned numerous premises.