Ecowas: Nigeria chastises states for leaving regional alliance

Nigeria says Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger disappointed their people by leaving Ecowas.

This is the first statement from the leader of the economic and political group since the three governments said they were leaving on Sunday.

The three countries were already kicked out of Ecowas because they had recent coups.

The leaders of their military have moved away from their connection to France and made their relationship with Russia stronger.

They said they wanted to make things safe before holding elections, so they made a deal to help each other. This deal is called the Alliance of Sahel States.

They say Ecowas is being controlled by other countries and not doing enough to stop the terrorist attacks in their countries.

On Monday, it was reported that 22 people were killed in a suspected terrorist attack on a village in Niger near the Mali border. A person in charge of the area said some people came to Motagatta in Tillaberi on motorcycles and began shooting at the residents.

Pulling out will be tough because the community promises to let people travel without a visa and live and work in member countries. That’s what AFP news agency found in their analysis.

Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger were some of the first countries to join Ecowas almost 50 years ago.

The three countries and Ecowas were not getting along well after coups happened in Niger in July, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Mali in 2020. Ecowas asked the three countries to go back to being ruled by civilians.

Nigeria’s foreign ministry said that the three countries left without good intentions and criticized their military leaders.

“Leaders who were not chosen by the people are pretending to oppose their people’s right to make important decisions about their freedom to move, trade, and choose their own leaders,” it said.

The ministry also said that Nigeria, which is the largest member of Ecowas and is Niger’s main economic partner, still wants to talk with the three countries.

Last week, Burkina Faso said it got 25,000 tons of wheat for free from Russia. Russia also opened its embassy there again in December. The embassy had been closed when the Soviet Union fell apart.

Russia has been trying to make new friends in Africa and other places because Western countries are angry at them for fighting in Ukraine.

However, there are many important countries trying to gain power and influence in Africa, such as China, India, Turkey, the Gulf states, South Korea, Western nations, and Japan.