According to reports, a coup leader requested help from a Russian military contractor as other countries threatened to intervene.
As the junta approaches a deadline to either restore the country’s former president to power or risk a potential military intervention by neighbouring countries, one of the leaders of last week’s coup in Niger has reportedly requested aid from Russian defence contractor Wagner Group PMC.
According to the Associated Press, who cited French journalist Wassim Nasr, a senior research researcher at the Soufan Centre, General Salifou Moody allegedly made the request while visiting neighbouring Mali, where he met with a Wagner representative. The meeting was initially reported by France 24, and Nasr claimed to have confirmed the discussions with three people in Mali who were familiar with the situation as well as a French ambassador.
According to Nasr, Wagner is taking the proposal into consideration. “They need (Wagner) because they will become their guarantee to hold onto power,” Nasr said to the AP.v
Wagner and Russian government representatives have not responded to the contractor’s reported plea for assistance from the junta. The Kremlin declared on Friday that any intervention in Niger by nations outside the area was unlikely to make matters better. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, “We continue to favour a swift return to constitutional normality without endangering human lives.”
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner, has referred to the coup as a “justified rebellion of the people against Western exploitation.”
If the coup leaders don’t restore President Mohamed Bazoum to office by Sunday, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has threatened to send troops into Niger. Since being removed from power, Bazoum has been placed under house arrest. He has pleaded with the US “and the entire international community” to reinstate his government. A strategy for their participation in Niger has been agreed upon by the militaries of various ECOWAS countries, including Nigeria.
Wagner has emerged as a significant player in the African security environment, but it’s unclear how strong its influence now is on the continent since its botched uprising against Moscow in June. According to Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, the fate of the agreements Wagner made with several African nations would be decided by their respective administrations. According to reports, the company has deployed troops to places including Mali, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Mozambique, and the Central African Republic.
ECOWAS members Mali and Burkina Faso are among those who have sided with the Niger junta since the coup. In the words of Bazoum, the two neighbours were using “criminal Russian mercenaries.”
Franklin Nyamsi, the president of the African Freedom Institute, issued a warning in an interview with RT on Thursday, saying that ECOWAS’s threat to send soldiers into Niger would be interpreted as a declaration of war against the junta’s allies, including Mali and Burkina Faso. He added, “We are now at the door of a world African war,” warning that such a conflict could quickly get out of hand as the opposing factions look to the military superpowers of the world for assistance.
