IN 2023, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger Republic, which are part of the Economic Community of West African States [ECOWAS] recorded more than 3,500 terrorist attacks. These attacks led to more than 7,000 deaths within the countries.
According to the Commissioner of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, ECOWAS Commission, Abdel-Fatau Musa, during the weekly press briefing on Friday, March 8, said that nearly 2,000 attacks were recorded in Burkina Faso, over 1,044 in Mali, and 500 in the Niger Republic.
While explaining that the community would establish a terrorism force to address the challenge, he said, “The whole geographical area of West Africa is rich in human and natural resources. However, our geographic area is an area of immense vulnerability.
“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.”
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The ICIR findings from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) for 2023 showed that 8,474 people were killed due to various attacks in Burkina Faso. Also, in Mali and Niger Republic, 4,317 and 1,149 people were reportedly killed.
For some months, some ECOWAS countries have struggled to maintain democratic governance systems, especially with the military takeover in Niger last year, including Mali in both 2020 and 2021 as well as Burkina Faso in 2022. The unsetting crisis has forced ECOWAS to impose sanctions on the countries.

The ICIR reported how President Bola Tinubu, who is also the president of ECOWAS, appealed to the three countries after they threatened to exit the community.
Meanwhile, a separate analysis by The ICIR reviewed how Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali’s exit from ECOWAS will affect Nigeria.
A diplomatic analyst and social critic, Majeed Dahiru, told The ICIR in an interview that “The key lesson is to make our democracies more democratic and ensure that the dividends of democracies are delivered to the people. This will enable people not to seek alternatives as witnessed in Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali.”
Kehinde Ogunyale tells stories by using data to hold power into account. You can send him a mail at jameskennyogunyale@gmail or Twitter: Prof_KennyJames | LinkedIn: Kehinde Ogunyale