By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Contingency plans have commenced to reduce unforeseen consequences arising from the departure of junta-led Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has announced.
The official withdrawal of the three countries from the regional bloc on 29 January requires a critical analysis of the security arrangement within West Africa and the Sahel, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security, Abdel-Fatau Musah, stated in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, on Tuesday.
Between 2020 and 2023, the military seized power in Ouagadougou, Bamako, and Niamey following coups. The countries officially left ECOWAS at the end of January, after a one-year notice, accusing the bloc of being influenced by France.
The trio also alleged that ECOWAS had failed to assist in the fight against jihadist violence in their countries. They have tense relations with their former colonial power, France.
In response to their expulsion from the bloc following the coups, they formed a security and economic pact called the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
However, at the meeting of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CDS), Musah urged ECOWAS defence chiefs to critically examine the implications of their withdrawal on regional security during their deliberations.
According to him, the Central Sahel remains the epicentre of insecurity, while the littoral states continue to bear the pressure.
“According to the Global Terrorism Index, the Sahel accounted for 51 per cent of global terrorism deaths in 2024.
“Weak governance, ethnic tensions, and ecological degradation have fuelled terrorism, worsened by transnational jihadist groups and geopolitical competition.
“The Alliance of Sahel States is shifting alliances by removing Western involvement in security and economic sectors and withdrawing from ECOWAS,” NAN quoted him as saying.
Musah called for a concerted effort to strengthen shared aspirations for a peaceful, secure, and prosperous ECOWAS region.
He emphasised that it was crucial for the meeting to further accelerate planning for the activation of the ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF) in its kinetic form to combat terrorism.
