Niger’s influential Minister of Interior, General Mohamed Toumba, finds himself at the center of a highly sensitive investigation. A pivotal figure within the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) since the coup d’état on July 26, 2023, the senior officer is indirectly associated with an illicit visa commercialization scandal spanning West Africa and Europe, directly involving his spouse.
A clandestine network facilitating access to the Schengen area
Previously undisclosed within diplomatic and security circles in Niamey, the affair implicates the Spanish Embassy in Niger. General Toumba’s wife, a former employee of this diplomatic mission, is suspected of leveraging her past position to orchestrate an extensive network for trafficking Schengen visas.
The network’s modus operandi, now dismantled, relied on highly lucrative clandestine services:
- Fees: Ranging from 2 to 5 million CFA francs (approximately 3,048 to 7,622 euros) per visa.
- Process: Applicants were not required to appear before consular services, conducting all procedures remotely.
- Target Clientele: The system predominantly attracted Malian nationals. These individuals illegally bypassed the mandatory residency card verification in Niger, a document typically required to circumvent the Spanish Embassy in Bamako. Upon their arrival in Madrid, local facilitators immediately assisted them.
Initial findings from the investigation suggest that nearly 1,500 Malians may have traveled to Europe through this illicit channel.
Financial ramifications and key arrests
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 flows intended for money laundering across the region, particularly towards Senegal.
External intelligence operatives have made several significant arrests:
- Maty Cissokho Toumba, the Minister of Interior’s wife, underwent questioning by investigators.
- Samsoudine Idrissa, identified as the network’s logistical coordinator and an associate of General Toumba, was apprehended by the DGDSE immediately after 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.
Political tensions at the highest echelons of the state
The initiation of this procedure, spearheaded by intelligence services (DGDSE) rather than conventional judicial police, exacerbates internal rivalries within the ruling military junta.
This scandal intensifies the climate of mistrust within the transitional regime. Transitional President General Abdourahamane Tchiani increasingly appears to rely on members of his own Haoussa community, potentially marginalizing other senior officials from the Zarma community. Consequently, this affair directly weakens prominent Zarma figures within the regime, notably General Mohamed Toumba (the junta’s third-in-command) and General Salifou Modi, the Minister of Defense, despite Modi’s distinguished reputation within the military ranks.
