A highly sensitive investigation has recently cast a shadow over Niger’s influential Interior Minister, General Mohamed Toumba. A prominent figure within the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) since the coup d’état on July 26, 2023, the senior officer now finds himself indirectly connected to an illicit scheme involving the commercialization of residence permits between West Africa and Europe, with direct involvement from his wife.
A clandestine route to the Schengen area
Previously undisclosed within Niamey’s diplomatic and security circles, the affair centers on the Spanish Embassy in Niger. General Toumba’s wife, a former collaborator at this chancery, is suspected of leveraging her past position to orchestrate an extensive network facilitating Schengen visa trafficking.
The operational methodology of this now-dismantled network relied on highly lucrative clandestine services:
- Pricing: Visas were sold for sums ranging between 2 and 5 million CFA francs (approximately 3,048 to 7,622 euros).
- Process: Applicants were exempted from appearing before consular services, with all procedures handled remotely.
- Targeted Clientele: The system particularly appealed to Malian nationals. These individuals benefited from an illegal waiver of the required residence permit verification in Niger, a document typically necessary to bypass the Spanish Embassy in Bamako. Upon their arrival in Madrid, local contacts immediately received them.
Initial findings from the investigation suggest that approximately 1,500 Malians were able to travel to Europe through this illicit channel.
Financial ramifications and detentions
Investigations conducted by the Directorate General of Documentation and External Security (DGDSE), under the leadership of Lieutenant-Colonel Souleymane Balla-Arabé, have uncovered suspicious financial circuits designed to launder funds across the region, with significant transfers directed towards Senegal.
External intelligence operatives have made several key arrests:
- Maty Cissokho Toumba, the wife of the Interior Minister, underwent questioning by investigators.
- Samsoudine Idrissa, identified as the network’s logistical coordinator and an associate of General Toumba, was apprehended by the DGDSE just as he was departing the minister’s residence.
- Another alleged accomplice, reportedly recruited by the minister’s wife shortly before her departure from the Spanish Embassy a year ago, is also under judicial scrutiny.
Elevated political tensions within the state
The initiation of this procedure, managed by intelligence services (DGDSE) rather than conventional judicial police, exacerbates existing internal rivalries within the ruling military junta.
This unfolding scandal intensifies an atmosphere of mistrust within the transitional regime. Transitional President General Abdourahamane Tchiani is increasingly observed to be consolidating power among members of his own Hausa community, often at the expense of other high-ranking officials from the Zarma community. Consequently, this affair directly weakens the most senior Zarma cadres within the regime, notably General Mohamed Toumba (the junta’s third-highest official) and General Salifou Modi, the Defense Minister, who is otherwise highly respected within the military ranks.
