The Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Hadja Mémounatou Ibrahima, has lamented the upsurge in the threat of terrorism, violent extremism, and organised crime in the West African sub-region.

Ibrahima said the asymmetrical threat weighed heavily on the conscience of the parliamentarians as Africans.

Speaking during the 2024 First Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja, Ibrahima expressed gratitude to Almighty God, saying that out of His unending kindness, He has enabled the parliament to meet at the National Assembly, which is highly symbolic of the Parliament’s commitment to viable and sincere sub-regional integration.

Ibrahima stated that the session was taking place in a difficult international context for the entire planet, as the world had barely emerged from pandemics and epidemics. She noted that the world is still grappling with several scourges and challenges, such as poverty, climate change, the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, and the conflict in the Middle East.

Ibrahima said: “Unfortunately, the problems are compounded by another phenomenon of staggering proportions in the region, namely the upsurge in the threat of terrorism, violent extremism, and organised crime, which is costing the lives of our valiant defence and security forces, as well as thousands of innocent people.”

Focusing on the crises within the region, Ibrahima recalled her inaugural speech, on 23 May 2024, in Kano, during the 2024 Second Extraordinary Session of the Parliament, where she mentioned various political, economic, and security crises in several member states which the 6th Legislature must urgently help to address.

“These include the desire expressed by three of our member states to withdraw from the Community, as well as the growing tensions between the Republics of Benin and Niger, not to mention other constant concerns in the region, such as terrorism, food insecurity, irregular migration, and the adverse effects of climate change,” Ibrahim stated.

Ibrahima added that discussions on the various issues led to the adoption by Parliament of what is known as the ‘Kano Declaration’.

Ibrahima further said that by means of the declaration, the ECOWAS Parliament resolved, among other things, to set up an ad hoc mediation committee to initiate and maintain not only dialogue with the authorities of the different countries, but also communication among the various populations.

The Parliament, Ibrahima also said, resolved to conduct field visits to understand and help settle disagreements between the two friendly and sister nations, Benin and Niger, and to encourage the ECOWAS Commission to expedite the implementation of the joint defence strategy to fight against terrorism and violent extremism.

“I want to assure you that, during its last two meetings, the Bureau of Parliament discussed these recommendations at length, and urgent actions are being taken in collaboration with other ECOWAS institutions to implement them,” Ibrahim disclosed.

In his remarks, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, said that besides the many threats related to peace and security, as well as challenges related to poverty, the West African region is also facing the risks of disintegration.

“As you all know, on 29 January, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger notified the Commission of their intention to leave ECOWAS with immediate effect.

“Our people – the people of West Africa – have lived within an integrated ECOWAS community for several decades. Populations have benefited from freedom of movement within our ECOWAS space and have begun to perceive the advantages of our common market, where local products are traded freely in a market of over 400 million inhabitants. In addition, the use of a common passport and a common biometric identity card for travel within our community space has been introduced.

“Given these advantages, it is clear that disintegration will not only disrupt the freedom of movement and establishment of people, but it will also aggravate insecurity in the region. More specifically, the withdrawal of the three aforementioned countries will deal a severe blow to security cooperation, particularly in terms of intelligence sharing and participation in the fight against regional terrorism and other joint security initiatives, such as the operationalization of the ECOWAS standby force that our member states’ defence ministers have just agreed to activate, as well as the Accra Initiative and the Multinational Joint Taskforce,” Touray said.

Touray also said the withdrawal of the three countries could also lead to diplomatic and political isolation on the international stage, as the countries will no longer be able to benefit from bloc support when their citizens or candidates seek international positions within the African Union, the United Nations, and similar bodies.

“This withdrawal will also affect travel and immigration conditions for citizens of these three countries, as they will now have to apply for visas before travelling within the sub-region. Citizens of these countries may no longer be able to reside or freely create businesses within the facilities established by ECOWAS and may be subject to various national laws. Additionally, these three countries will have to cease using ECOWAS passports, the ECOWAS biometric national identity card, and the ECOWAS ‘Brown Card’ automobile insurance on a regional scale.

“Economically and financially, the withdrawal of the three member states could lead to the cessation or suspension of all projects and programmes implemented by ECOWAS in these countries, valued at over 500 million US dollars.

“It is also worth noting that the two regional financial institutions, namely the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) and the West African Development Bank (BOAD), have significant investments in these three countries. EBID has 27 projects currently in these three countries, with a total value estimated at around 321.634 million US dollars, of which 38.1 per cent are public sector projects, and 61.9 per cent are private sector projects. The banking portfolio in these three countries represents approximately 22.5 per cent of the total bank portfolio in the 15 member states. The three countries have contributed a total of 33.135 million US dollars to the bank’s capital.

“Institutionally, it is worth noting that the withdrawal of the three countries will result in the closure of four ECOWAS regional entities in Burkina Faso, two ECOWAS regional bodies in Mali, and one ECOWAS regional office in Niger. This will also affect the job security of approximately 130 ECOWAS staff citizens of the three countries, distributed as follows: 77 from Burkina Faso; 23 from Mali; and 32 from Niger,” Touray also said.