Prigozhin praises the coup in Niger describing it as “good news” and offers the services of his fighters to maintain order in the country
The head of Russia’s Wagner military group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, hailed the military coup in Niger as “good news” and offered the services of his fighters to impose order there.
Prigozhin continues to carry out his activities despite an incomplete rebellion he led against senior officers in the Russian army last month.
This came in an audio message broadcast by Wagner’s channels on Telegram and said it was for Prigozhin, but he didn’t refer to any involvement of the group in the coup, which he described as a long-awaited moment of liberation from Western colonialists and made what seemed like a call to his fighters to help maintain order.
“What happened in Niger was nothing but the struggle of the people of Niger against their colonialists, against the colonialists who are trying to impose the rules of their lives on them and their conditions and keep them in the state that Africa has been in for hundreds of years,” said the letter, which was posted on Thursday.
“They are gaining their independence today… The rest of the steps will undoubtedly depend on the citizens of Niger and how effective the governance is, but the main thing is that they got rid of the colonialists”.
The coup leaders in Niger declared General Abderrahmane Tiane the new head of state on Friday, saying they had overthrown President Mohamed Bazoum, in the seventh military coup in West and Central Africa in less than three years.
Niger declared full independence from France in 1960, and it is one of the poorest countries in the world, but it contains some of the largest reserves of uranium.
The audio message was the latest sign that Prigozhin and his men are still active in Africa, where they have security contracts in countries such as the Central African Republic.
Prigozhin had said in an interview with an African media published online a few days ago that Wagner was ready to increase its presence in Africa and that a new group of its fighters had arrived in the Central African Republic before a constitutional referendum.
Some countries, such as France and the United States, have expressed concerns about the Wagner Group’s activities in Africa.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, 62, appeared to still move freely despite Kremlin statements last month that he had moved to neighboring Belarus, where some of his men have already begun training its army.
In his audio message, Yevgeny boasted of what he described as Wagner’s efficiency in helping African countries to stabilize and develop.
