The military leader in Niger Republic, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, has vowed that his country, Burkina Faso and Mali would not rejoin the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Tchiani made the declaration in an interview he granted to RTN news channel in Niamey yesterday.
Recall that the three Sahel countries had on January 28, 2024, announced their immediate withdrawal from ECOWAS.
They said it was a sovereign decision to leave the sub-regional economic bloc.
“Just because we are members of the bloc, food and medicine supply was cut off. Power was also cut off and our own funds have been freezed.
“So, we consulted our friends in the Sahel on exiting the bloc to better the life of our citizens. That we should withdraw from the bloc that is answerable to the foreign countries.
So, we have withdrawn our membership from the bloc and would never return to the union,” he declared. (Sic)
He dared the consequences of the action on security, trade and socio-economic activities saying: “Now the world is a global village and is the world within ECOWAS? So, God will feed every human He created.
“We would never release Bazoum. Setting Bazoum free is akin to stabbing ourselves in the stomach which would do harm to Nigeriens,” he added.
