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Col. Amadou Abdramane, spokesman for Niger’s junta, read from the statement in a televised address. ECOWAS, he said, had turned away from “the ideals of its founding fathers” and failed to support the three countries, which are wracked by Islamist insurgencies, in their “existential fight against terrorism and insecurity.”
Later Sunday, ECOWAS, which was established in 1975, said that it had “yet to receive any direct formal notification” from the three countries regarding their intent to withdraw. In a statement, the bloc said it had been working with all three nations “for the restoration of constitutional order” and that it “remains committed to finding a negotiated solution to the political impasse.”
None of the military juntas — which together formed a mutual defense pact in September — has laid out a clear timeline for a democratic transition. But Sunday’s announcement marked an escalation in tensions that soared last year following a military coup in Niger — the last of the three countries to lose their democratic governments.
The first among the recent coups was in Mali, where mutinous soldiers seized power in 2020 and again in 2021 when a military officer ousted the original coup leader. Neighboring Burkina Faso followed a similar pattern, with two military coups in 2022.
The July coup in Niger — a key security partner of the West — came as a shock to many in the region and internationally and was met with a sharp rebuke by ECOWAS, which imposed sanctions and later threatened to invade to restore the elected president.
The statement Sunday criticized ECOWAS for the sanctions, which the juntas called “illegitimate, inhumane and irresponsible.” The trade restrictions, the statement said, had “further weakened populations already bruised by years of violence.”
It was not immediately clear how the withdrawal would impact ECOWAS or the three nations. Bloc members have historically enjoyed the free movement of goods and people in the region.
As military officers seized power in each country, they cited rampant insecurity as the impetus for the coups. They blamed government leaders for failing to address the violence, driven largely by groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
They also all ousted French troops from their respective countries. France, a deeply unpopular former colonial power, had in recent years paired with governments in the Sahel to help battle Islamist militants.
Instead, the juntas turned to Russia and Russian mercenaries to help bolster security, even as violence increased sharply in the region. In 2023, conflict fatalities from political violence in all three countries rose by nearly 40 percent, according to the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.
In a report this month, ACLED said that the high levels of violence are likely to persist in 2024, as military leaders seek to combat the militants’ “increasingly aggressive tactics.”
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