General Abdourahamane Tchiani, the commander of the military junta in the Niger Republic, has sworn that none of the three Sahelian nations will re-join the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS.
In an interview that he gave to the RTN news channel on Monday in the nation’s capital of Niamey, Tchiani made the promise.
Remembers that on January 28, the military administrations in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger declared they were leaving ECOWAS immediately.
However, during the withdrawal threat, the leaders of the three Sahel nations issued a statement, saying it was a “sovereign decision” to leave the group “without delay”.
“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 So, we have withdrawn our membership from the bloc and would never return to the union,” he said.
“Now that the world is a global village, is the world within ECOWAS?” he said, in response to the effects of its withdrawal on trade, security, and socioeconomic activity. Therefore, God will feed every person that He made.
“We would never release Bazoum. Setting Bazoum free is akin to stabbing ourselves in the stomach which would do harm to Nigeriens,” he added.
