Mohamed Bazoum, the deposed president of the Niger Republic, has warned that the continued rule of the current military junta could have terrible consequences for the country and the entire central Sahel region.

Mr Bazoum, held hostage by the military junta, said in a Washington Post article on Thursday that Niger’s security situation is significantly better than the nations that have since employed criminal Russian mercenaries such as the Wagner Group at the expense of their people’s rights and dignity.

He said the entire central Sahel region could fall to Russian influence via the Wagner Group. Mr Bazoum believes that Boko Haram and other terrorist movements would take advantage of the insecurity in Niger to attack neighbouring countries and undermine peace, safety and freedom worldwide.

The ousted president said the terrorists could target youths with “hateful anti-Western indoctrination” and turn them against countries seeking a brighter future for them.

“Notably, Niger’s security situation is significantly better than that of our neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, whose governments, both installed by military takeovers, support the illegal coup. Rather than addressing security concerns by strengthening their own capacity, they employ criminal Russian mercenaries such as the Wagner Group at the expense of their people’s rights and dignity,” said Mr Bazoum.

He added, “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.”

Emphasising that the military invasion in Niger has no basis, he insisted that coup plotters and their partners have made several accusations against him, referencing the poor security situation and government economic policies.

“The coup plotters falsely claim that they acted to protect Niger’s security. They allege that our war against jihadist terrorists is failing and that my economic and social governance, including partnerships with the United States and Europe, has hurt our country,” he said.

Niger was one of the few nations in the Sahel region democratically governed until July 26, when a faction of military revolutionists led a coup, deposed Mr Bazoum’s government, and immediately placed him on house arrest at the state Presidential palace in Niamey.

The Sahel region has been a hub of insecurity partly by the extremist group Boko Haram and other cross-border conflicts linked to poor governance and poverty across the region.

Nigeria has also had its share of Boko Haram insurgency, with more than 8.4 million people, mostly in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, now needing humanitarian aid in 2022, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

But Mr Bazoum said Niger’s security situation had improved dramatically — facilitated by the partnerships the junta opposes.

Following the military takeover in Niger, the Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu, who heads ECOWAS, has since taken several measures by dismissing the invasion as a threat to democracy. In addition, he has dispatched a mission to meet with all parties to restore constitutional order in the country.

The ECOWAS Heads of State and Government convened in Abuja last Sunday. They slammed sanctions on the coup plotters, giving them one week to give up power or face possible military intervention.