Russia’s Wagner mercenary force is “taking advantage” of Niger’s insecurity, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Following President Mohamed Bazoum’s ouster over two weeks ago, the country has been ruled by a junta.
There have been reports that the coup leaders sought assistance from Wagner, who is believed to be present in adjacent Mali.
Mr. Blinken stated that he does not believe Russia or Wagner were behind the coup in Niger.
However, he told the BBC’s Focus on Africa show that the US was concerned about the organisation “possibly manifesting itself” in sections of the Sahel region.
“I believe what happened and continues to happen in Niger was not instigated by Russia or Wagner, but they attempted to exploit it.”
“Everywhere this Wagner group has gone, death, destruction, and exploitation have followed,” Mr. Blinken added.
“Insecurity has increased, not decreased.”
He went on to say that there was a “repeat of what happened in other countries, where they brought nothing but bad things with them.”
Wagner is thought to have thousands of fighters in nations such as the Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali, where it not only has rich commercial interests but also strengthens Russia’s political and economic links.
The militants of the organisation have been accused of significant human rights violations in various African nations.
Despite this, there is talk that Niger’s army has requested Wagner’s aid as the nation confronts military involvement.
ECOWAS gave Niger’s junta leaders until Sunday to step down and reinstall President Bazoum.
This deadline was missed, and Ecowas is scheduled to meet on Thursday to discuss what to do next.
On Monday, US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland met with the coup leaders for “difficult and frank” talks, saying they knew the hazards of dealing with mercenaries.
Mr. Bazoum, who is presently imprisoned, has also expressed alarm about Wagner’s impact in Africa.
“With an open invitation from the coup plotters and their regional allies, the entire central Sahel region could fall to Russian influence via the Wagner Group, whose brutal terrorism has been on full display in Ukraine,” he wrote last week in a Washington Post opinion article.
Although it is unknown whether Wagner militants have reached the nation, the popular Wagner-affiliated Telegram channel Grey Zone announced on Monday that 1,500 of its fighters had lately been transferred to Africa.
It didn’t say where on the continent they were supposed to be stationed.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner’s commander, encouraged the junta to “give us a call” in a voice message sent to Telegram on Tuesday.
“We are always on the side of good, justice, and those who fight for their sovereignty and the rights of their people,” he stated.
Niger is a former French colony, and the coup has sparked a surge of anti-France and pro-Russian sentiment in the nation, similar to what neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso have seen following their own coups.
The two ECOWAS members have dispatched a mission to Niger’s capital, Niamey, to convince the coup leaders that they will defend them against the other West African states and their Western supporters if necessary.
Meanwhile, following the coup, the junta has selected the country’s former finance minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, as the country’s new prime minister.
Mr. Zeine takes over for Mahamadou Ouhoumo-Udou, who was in Europe at the time of the coup.
