The Economic Community of West African States recorded over 3,500 terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger Republic in 2023 which resulted in nearly 7,000 deaths.
The Commissioner of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, ECOWAS Commission, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musa, disclosed this during the weekly press briefing of the ECOWAS Commission on Friday in Abuja.
Fatau noted that nearly 2,000 attacks were recorded in Burkina Faso, over 1,044 in Mali, and 500 in Niger Republic, noting that the regional bloc would establish a terrorism force to address the challenge.
He explained, “The whole geographical area of West Africa is rich in human and natural resources. However, our geographic area is an area of immense vulnerability.
“Particularly the Sahel countries; in 2023 alone, over 3,500 terrorist attacks were recorded. This includes close to 2,000 in Burkina Faso, over 1,044 in Mali, and 500 in Niger Republic. These incidents resulted in close to 7,000 fatalities in the three Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
“In the three Sahel countries, a total of 4.8 million people faced food insecurity, 2.4 million people were internally displaced and close to 9,000 schools remain closed in the region. Burkina Faso has already taken over from Afghanistan.”
The 15-nation bloc ECOWAS, formed in 1975 to promote economic integration in member states, has struggled in recent years to reverse a wave of military takeovers in the region, including Mali in 2020 and 2021, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger last year.
The exit of three countries from ECOWAS threatened the African Continental Free Trade Area aimed at accelerating intra-African trade and boosting the continent’s trading position in the global market.
Earlier, ECOWAS imposed economic sanctions on the countries. The sanctions were, however, lifted last week following the intervention of Nigeria’s ex-military head of state, Gen. Yakubu Gowon.
The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray, said the decisions were taken in the interest of unity and security in the African sub-region.
