Calls were also made for former prime minister and opposition figure, Hama Amandou to take the president’s place, AFP reported.

Addressing the rally at mid-afternoon, the leader of the opposition coalition (CFDR) Mohammad Bazoum said: “It is up to us to end this autocratic rule. If we don’t move nobody will move in our place. We have to fight and fight.”

The CFDR, which is made up of political parties, human rights and labour organizations, refuses to recognize last August referendum which modified the country’s constitution giving Tandja more terms in office instead of stepping down this November after the maximum two terms.

The CFDR in October boycotted the legislatives elections which replaced the parliament scrapped by Tandja for opposing his plans to remain in power.

Talks are currently in progress in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to resolve the political crisis in the uranium-rich country.

Observers, according to AFP, say the opposition is striving to step up pressure from within the country to influence the talks in Abuja.