
French uranium mining company Orano has sued the government of Niger after the disappearance of its director and the raiding of its local offices, as military authorities in the west African country tighten their grip on foreign companies and civil society.
“Orano deplores this intervention, for which no legal basis nor reason has been offered," Orano said in a statement late Tuesday, accusing authorities of arbitrary arrest, illegal detention and “unjust confiscation of the property of Nigerien companies, subsidiaries of Orano and the State of Niger itself.”