BY – Oluwafunmilayo Ogedengbe
The junta-led government of Burkina Faso suspended Radio Omega on Thursday following the broadcast of an interview deemed “insulting” to Niger’s new military leaders.
The station is affiliated with the Omega media group and is owned by Alpha Barry, a journalist and former foreign minister.
Communications Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo declared an immediate suspension “until further notice,” citing the nation’s “higher interests.”
During the interview, Ousmane Abdoul Moumouni, a spokesperson for a new Nigerien group seeking to restore President Mohamed Bazoum to power after a July 26 coup, was featured. The Council of Resistance for the Republic (CRR), led by former rebel leader and politician Rhissa Ag Boula, opposes the military junta that took control on July 26 and aims to reinstate President Bazoum.
Minister Ouedraogo criticized Moumouni’s “insulting remarks” in response to the interview and accused the organization of actively advocating for violence and war to reinstall Bazoum “by any means.”
“His organisation is clearly campaigning for violence and war against the sovereign people of Niger and seeks to restore Bazoum by every means,” Ouedraogo said.
Burkina Faso, which experienced two military coups in 2021, swiftly aligned with Niger’s new leadership and cautioned against military intervention to reinstate Bazoum.
In recent times, Burkina Faso has also suspended various French media outlets, reflecting escalating tensions between the government and the press.
The Burkinabe authorities had last year, suspended French TV outlets LCI and France24 as well as Radio France Internationale and expelled the correspondents of the French newspapers Liberation and Le Monde.
