Niger’s interior minister on Thursday accused supporters of jailed presidential candidate Hama Amadou of acts of violence against backers of the incumbent president seeking re-election. “Since the start of the campaign, there have been acts of aggression, violence committed by MODEN activists against supporters of (President) Mahamadou Issoufou and any vehicles with his poster,” Hassoumi Massaoudou told AFP. Issoufou is running for a second term in the February 21 vote in the arid west African country, while his rival Amadou, of the Democratic Movement of Niger (MODEN), remains in prison over allegations of taking part in a baby trafficking scandal.
The jailed politician, who was arrested in November on his return from exile in France, has denied the allegations and claims that “a political case” has been mounted to prevent him from challenging Issoufou.
He has been denied bail though several other senior political, military and business figures facing accusations in the case have been released pending trial.
The interior minister charged that Amadou’s supporters had damaged “at least 50 vehicles” since the presidential campaign began on Saturday. “There’s never been such violence before during an electoral campaign,” he said.
Full Article: Niger blames backers of jailed presidential hopeful for violence – Yahoo News.
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