A spokesperson for the French foreign ministry said in a statement that the embassy has been severely hampered for five months.

Relations between Niger and its former colonizer France have broken down since army officers seized power in a coup in July.

The Niger juntas ordered police to expel France's ambassador Sylvain Itte and called for the departure of French troops from its territory.

France at first ignored the order.

But a month later, President Emmanuel Macron announced that the ambassador would return to Paris and French troops would leave.

On December 22, French troops deployed in Niger to help fight a decade-old Islamist insurgency in the Sahel left the country.

And on December 25, Niger also suspended all cooperation with the international organization of Francophone nations (OIF), its military leaders said, dealing a further blow to France's influence in West Africa.