Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani has declared himself the new leader of Niger after a dramatic coup.
Also known as Omar Tchiani, he staged a takeover which started on Wednesday when the presidential guards unit he led seized the country’s leader.
This shatters Niger’s first peaceful and democratic transition since independence in 1960.
President Mohamed Bazoum is thought to be in good health, and still held captive by his own guards.
He had been considered a key ally by Western nations in the fight against Islamist militants in the region.
The coup has been roundly condemned by international bodies including the African Union, West African regional bloc (Ecowas), the EU and the UN.
However, the leader of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has reportedly praised the coup, describing it as a triumph.
“What happened in Niger is nothing other than the struggle of the people of Niger with their colonisers,” Yevgeny Prigozhin was quoted as saying on a Wagner-affiliated Telegram channel.
The BBC has not been able to verify the authenticity of his reported comments.
Gen Tchiani, 62, has been in charge of the presidential guard since 2011 and was promoted to the rank of general in 2018 by former President Mahamadou Issoufou.
He had also been linked to a 2015 coup attempt against the ex-president, but appeared in court to deny it.
Speaking in a televised address, Gen Tchiani said his junta took over because of several problems in Niger, including insecurity, economic woes and corruption, amongst other matters.
Niger’s coup is the latest in a wave of takeovers that have hit the West African region in recent years, toppling governments in countries including Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso.
It also comes as a big blow to the leadership of Ecowas. Just two weeks ago, the bloc’s chairman, President Bola Tinubu, warned that terrorism and the emerging pattern of coups in West Africa had reached alarming levels and demanded urgent, concerted actions.
There are now concerns about which countries the new leader will align with. Niger’s neighbours, Burkina Faso and Mali, have both pivoted towards Moscow since recent coups of their own.
Wagner boss welcomes Niger coup in audio recording
Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has business interests and security contracts in several African nationsImage caption: Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has business interests and security contracts in several African nations
Wagner mercenary boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has welcomed the military coup in Niger, according to an unverified audio message.
Niger has been a key Western ally in the fight against Islamist militants in West Africa.
The US and France, the former colonial power, both have military bases in the uranium-rich country.
The unverified voice message from Mr Prigozhin appeared on a Telegram app channel associated with the group, saying the takeover was long overdue.
According to the Reuters news agency, the speaker had the same distinctive intonation and turn of phrase in Russian as the Wagner boss.
“What happened in Niger is nothing more than the struggle of the people of Niger against colonisers, who tried to impose their own rules of life,” AFP news agency quotes him as saying.
“In order to maintain their actual slave system in the territories of these states, they deploy various foreign missions, which number tens of thousands of soldiers.”
He went on to hail the “effectiveness” of Wagner, explaining a thousand of its fighters “are able to restore order and destroy terrorists, preventing them from harming the civilian population”, AFP reports.
The release of voice message coincided with the publication on Telegram of photographs showing Mr Prigozhin in St Petersburg at the Africa-Russia summit.
He was seen shaking hands with Ambassador Freddy Mapouka, a senior official in the Central African Republic (CAR).
It is the first confirmed sighting of Mr Prigozhin in Russia since Wagner’s failed mutiny in June.
Wagner has a security contract in CAR and through its network of companies allegedly trades there in conflict minerals and timber, as well as making beer and vodka.
The shadowy mercenary group is also in Mali, where it is believed to have about 1,000 soldiers and where its troops have been accused of carrying out atrocities.
Their deployment in December 2021 had followed a breakdown in diplomatic relations between Mali’s military regime and France, prompting the former colonial power to withdraw its counter-terror troops.
According to Reuters, the Wagner boss was heard in a video released earlier this month telling his men, now exiled to Belarus, that they should gather their strength for a “new journey to Africa”.
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
