Niger: interior minister’s spouse implicated in schengen visa trafficking scheme

General Mohamed Toumba, Niger’s influential Minister of Interior and a pivotal figure within the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) since the July 26, 2023 coup d’état, is now indirectly embroiled in a highly sensitive affair. This concerns an illicit scheme involving the sale of residency permits facilitating travel between West Africa and Europe, with his spouse directly implicated.

A clandestine network to the Schengen area

The details of this matter, previously confined to diplomatic and security circles in Niamey, have now emerged, pointing to the Spanish embassy in Niger. The wife of General Toumba, who formerly served at this diplomatic mission, is suspected of leveraging her past association to orchestrate an extensive network for illicit Schengen visa procurement.

The operational framework of this now-dismantled network involved exceptionally profitable clandestine services:

• Pricing: Each visa commanded a fee ranging from 2 to 5 million CFA francs, equivalent to approximately 3,048 to 7,622 euros.
• Process: Applicants were exempted from direct appearances at consular offices, with all procedures managed remotely.
• Target Demographic: The scheme predominantly attracted Malian nationals. These individuals were illegally granted waivers from the mandatory verification of a residency card in Niger, a document typically required to circumvent the Spanish embassy in Bamako. Upon their arrival in Madrid, local contacts immediately facilitated their onward arrangements.

Initial investigative findings suggest that approximately 1,500 Malian citizens successfully traveled to Europe through this illicit channel.

Financial Implications and Detentions

Investigations spearheaded 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 directed towards Senegal.

External intelligence operatives have executed several critical arrests:

• Maty Cissokho Toumba, the spouse of the Interior Minister, was questioned 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 currently under judicial scrutiny.

Political Ramifications at the Highest Levels

The initiation of this investigation, spearheaded by the DGDSE intelligence services rather than conventional judicial police, has intensified existing internal rivalries within the ruling military junta.

This burgeoning scandal further exacerbates a climate of distrust pervading the transitional regime. Transitional President General Abdourahamane Tchiani is reportedly increasingly consolidating power among members of his own Haoussa community, often at the expense of other senior officials from the Zarma community. Consequently, this affair directly undermines the position of prominent Zarma leaders within the regime, notably General Mohamed Toumba, who holds the third-highest rank in the junta, and General Salifou Modi, the highly regarded Minister of Defense.