A source said Niger has terminated its agreements with the ICRC and some foreign staff have started to leave the West African country, adding the organisation had closed its office in the capital, Niamey, on Tuesday.
Nigerien media said the government had ordered the closure of the humanitarian group’s offices and the immediate departure of foreign staff.
No reason was given for the decision.
The Red Cross has been working in Niger since 1990, recently focusing on aid for victims of years of violence by jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
Since taking power in a coup in July 2023, the Sahel nation’s military rulers have made national sovereignty a rallying cry.
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The regime has chilly relations with former colonial ruler France, instead forging ties with fellow juntas in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Russia.
In January, interior minister, Mohamed Toumba, said the government was taking important measures to ensure the monitoring and supervision of NGOs and development organisations.
According to Toumba, investigations have indicated many NGOs are in close association with certain partners that are bringing them war through their support to the terrorists.
Niger previously banned French humanitarian NGO Acted and local non-profit APBE in November, withdrawing their licenses.
The French NGO has been working in the impoverished country since 2009, notably tending to people displaced by jihadist violence.
Since the coup, Niger’s authorities have expelled both the French and US soldiers fighting against the region’s jihadist threat, as well as the French ambassador.