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Transcript/ScriptRIGHTS and RESTRICTIONS: Broadcast: No use Niger. Digital: No use Niger. . For Reuters customers only.
ORIGINAL TEXT PROVIDER: Reuters
ALTERNATE TEXT PROVIDER INFO: Reuters, AUG 03
ORIGINAL VIDEO PROVIDER: Reuters
ORIGINAL VIDEO SOURCE: REUTERS / ORTN
BY: REUTERS / ORTN, AUG 03
ORIGINAL VIDEO DESCRIPTION: NATURAL WITH FRENCH, ZARMA AND ENGLISH SPEECH
INTRO TEXT: Nigerien driver Amadou Mounkaila was en route to deliver a truckload of onions to Ghana when last week's military coup forced him to do a U-turn and return to the capital Niamey as borders slammed closed. Olivia Chan reports.
ADDITIONAL INFO:
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STORY: Amadou Mounkaila is a truck driver in Niger.
He was en route to deliver a truckload of onions to Ghana when last week's military coup forced him to do a U-turn and return to the capital Niamey as borders slammed closed.
Now he is among scores of drivers stranded in limbo with perishable products, a result of the stiff sanctions imposed by Niger's regional and international partners after the military takeover - aimed at bringing coup leaders into line through economic and political pressure.
"The consequences are disastrous, because we have to sell onions here in Niamey. Because we can't go. If we leave it on the truck like that, for a week at most, it's going to start going bad. Maximum one week."
The closure of borders by the Economic Community of West African States poses a special threat to landlocked and impoverished Niger.
Amid a worsening food crisis, the majority of key imports - including rice - would normally be trucked from neighboring countries.
According to the UN's World Food Program in July, 3.3 million people in Niger are facing acute food insecurity.
Yacouba Almou is the Secretary General of the truckers' union in Niger.
"We appeal to the countries that imposed the sanctions on us to know that we are working together. The fact that they took this decision shows that they have no respect for the people of Niger. The President of Benin should respect Niger, which works with their port. He forgot everything in one day."
According to U.S. government data, up to 1,000 vehicles a day would normally travel the trade corridor between the port of Cotonou in Benin and Niamey - many carrying goods to markets - making it one of the busiest crossings in West Africa.
The junta in Niger announced overnight on Wednesday (August 2) that borders with Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, Libya and Chad had reopened.
But those with Benin and Nigeria, and the vital links to their Atlantic ports, remain closed due to the ECOWAS sanctions.
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RightsBroadcast: No use Niger. Digital: No use Niger. . For Reuters customers only.
