Violence erupted in the Niger's capital of Niamey after rioters reacted to the globally controversial Charlie Hebdo's publication of the Muslim prophet, Mohammad. The rioters began burning down churches in retaliation and it's been reported at least seven churches were destroyed.

"The sites, which were primarily evangelical churches, were torched on the left bank of Niamey, several of them housed in small villas that bore no distinctive religious signs," Agence France Presse reported.

In response local authorities mobilised 100 police officers to Niamey cathedral, tasked with the protecting the sacred building from the wrath of up to 1,000 angry rioters. Due to the massive number of the mob and many armed with iron bars and clubs.

French businesses were also the target of the mobs fury, with several French owned facilities were looted and destroyed. The French embassy issued a high alert to French nationals in Niamey advising against going out.

A day earlier a clash between rioters and police occurred in Zinder, Niger's second largest city. The clash ended with the death of a policeman and three civilians, while 45 civilians were wounded during the clash. As the angry mob marched down the streets, they chanted "Charlie is Satan - let hell engulf those supporting Charlie," as they attacked Christian shops with Molotov cocktails. Three churches in Zinder was looted and then burnt to the ground, also the French cultural centre did not escape the carnage.  

Similar demonstrations against Charlie Hebdo are springing up in other former French colonies such as Mali, Senegal and Mauritania.