Ecowas says it is yet to receive official notice from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger about leaving

ECONOMIC Community of West African States (Ecowas) officials have called for calm following the recent announcement that three of its members were leaving the regional body stating that it had yet to receive any official documentation to that effect.

Yesterday, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic all announced that they were pulling out of Ecowas in response to the sanctions introduced against them. All three countries are ruled by military juntas and as a result, have had economic and political restrictions imposed upon them in a bid to force a return to civil rule.

According to the three countries, they were relinquishing their membership of Ecowas because the regional body had moved away from the ideals of its founding fathers and pan-Africanism. However, in a swift reaction, the Ecowas Commission said it was not aware of the withdrawal of the three countries, adding that they remain important members of the community and the authority.

In a joint statement yesterday, military leaders, Captain Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso, Col Assimi Goita of Mali and Brigadier Abdourahamane Tiani of Niger Republic, announced their withdrawal from Ecowas. They claimed that Ecowas had become a threat to its member states.

Their statement read: “After 49 years of existence, the valiant people of Burkina, Mali and Niger note with much regret, bitterness and great disappointment that their organisation has moved away from the ideals of its founding fathers and pan-Africanism. Furthermore, Ecowas, under the influence of foreign powers, betraying its founding principles, has become a threat to its member states and its populations whose happiness it is supposed to ensure.”

They accused Ecowas of failing to assist the three countries in fighting existential threats like terrorism, the common reason cited by their militaries for deposing their democratically elected governments. They also noted that their membership withdrawal was with immediate effect.

“Indeed, the organisation has not provided assistance to our states in the context of our existential fight against terrorism and insecurity. Worse, when these states decided to take their destiny into their own hands, it adopted an irrational and unacceptable posture by imposing illegal, illegitimate, inhumane and irresponsible sanctions in violation of its own texts, all things which have further weakened populations already bruised by years of violence imposed by instrumentalised and remote-controlled terrorist hordes.

“Faced with this continuing situation, their excellencies, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, Colonel Assimi Goita and Brigadier General Abdourahamane Tiani, respectively the heads of state of Burkina Faso, the Republic of Mali and the Republic of Niger, taking all their responsibilities in the face of history and responding to the expectations, concerns and aspirations of their populations, decide in complete sovereignty on the immediate withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger from the Economic Community of West African States,” their statement added.