Hundreds of people demonstrated in N’Djamena to protest France’s presence in Chad, accusing Paris of supporting the ruling military council, with demonstrators chanting slogans including “France, go away!” and “No to colonialism,” according to AFP. at least two former colonial power flags and vandalized a number of gas stations owned by the French Total “symbol” group, as well as uprooting pumps and confiscating some of the products on offer.

The Chadian authorities allowed the demonstration, which was organized by the opposition civil society platform Waket Tama Coordination, and a large police force cordoned off the march and deployed security forces in the city. During Saturday’s rally, the demonstrators were joined by students and university students on motorcycles who chanted “France, go away.” Arabic-speaking teacher Idris Moussa argued: “If we continue to suffer today after independence, it is because of France, which prevents us from being truly independent.”

On April 6, the Vakit Tama platform announced the suspension of negotiations with the military council, specifically condemning the persistence of the international community at all costs to support the illegal and illegitimate regime. The army announced the assassination of Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno, who ruled the country for thirty years with an iron fist, at the front.