On Sunday, the military juntas in Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali declared their unanimous decision to immediately exit the Economic Community of West African States.
The regional economic group was accused by the juntas of enforcing cruel penalties meant to overthrow recent coups in their individual nations.
The unified statement, which was shown on state television in each of the three countries, said that the decision to leave was taken with full sovereign authority and that, after over 50 years of existence, ECOWAS had strayed from pan-Africanism and the principles of its founding fathers.
The juntas argued that ECOWAS had turned into a menace to its member nations and their citizens due to outside interference.
ECOWAS, which was founded in 1975 to encourage economic integration among its member states, is regarded as the premier
The group has had difficulties recently as it works to resolve coup occurrences in the area and guarantee the fair allocation of natural resources.
ECOWAS has not yet disclosed any information on the withdrawal process, nor have the juntas.
Only democratic governments are recognized by the regional group, which has already seen challenges to its authority. Last year, a regional court judgment said that juntas are not authorized to function on behalf of their countries in lieu of elected governments.
This declaration comes after a slew of incidents, including a coup in Niger earlier this year, that increased political unrest in West Africa. Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have just broken military ties and established a security partnership.
(AP)
