THE Economic Community of West African States or ECOWAS decided to lift sanctions it imposed on Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea, with the bloc pushing for dialogue in a bid to avert political crises in their region.
ECOWAS had imposed sanctions on these countries after unconstitutional changes in government through military coups in 2023.
But this prompter Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso to permanently withdraw from ECOWAS, but the bloc has called for the 3 countries to return.
ECOWAS suspended their memberships because of the military takeovers, but the three countries announced that they would permanently leave the bloc in a joint communique on January 28.
Although the bloc requires its member states to wait a year before quitting, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso declared a withdrawal ‘with immediate effect’.
In their joint statement, the alliance cited ECOWAS’ ‘illegal, illegitimate, inhumane and irresponsible sanctions’, as another reason for exiting the union.
Meanwhile, ECOWAS Commission chief Omar Alieu Touray said the decision to lift sanctions is based on humanitarian considerations and that the bloc is concerned about the impact of the withdrawal of the said countries, especially on their citizens and on the regional integration process.
Touray also said they will maintain a conciliatory posture with the three members states and urges them to resort to dialogue, negotiations, and mediation to address their concerns.
Meanwhile, residents of Niger reacted to the lifting of sanctions against their country by ECOWAS.
‘’Either way, it’s a good thing but we have to be very careful because an enemy who just comes back in order to attempt to re-establish something, we have to consider that to be a war strategy,’’ Sanda Resident of Niamey, Niger said.
‘’It’s a good initiative. We welcome the lifting of these sanctions, which will give Nigeriens a bit of a breather. Life has been difficult during these six months of sanctions, and the lifting of these sanctions coincides with the arrival of the month of Ramadan, which will also allow Nigeriens to practice Ramadan properly,’’ Boubacar Resident of Niamey, Niger added.
‘’We have to be careful about that, we the people and our authorities as well, because we don’t know what’s behind the lifting of these sanctions. We don’t know their intentions because they took this decision behind closed doors. We don’t know the obvious reasons for this lifting, so we will have to be very careful about their decision,’’ Resident Niamey, Niger concluded.