The Transitional Governments of the Republic of Niger and Burkina Faso have decided in full sovereignty to withdraw from all G5 Sahel bodies including the Joint Force as of November 29, 2023.
Created on December 19, 2014, by Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauretania, Niger and Chad, the G5 Sahel intended to pool capacities and means to make the Sahel an area of security and development.
A security and Counter Insurgency Expert in Lakechad region and west Africa Zagazola Makama who qouted the statement as saying that it is clear that after nearly 9 years of existence, the organisation is struggling to achieve its objectives. Worse, the legitimate ambitions of our States, to make the G5 Sahel space a zone of security and development, are thwarted by institutional heaviness, heaviness of another age that finish convincing us that the path of independence and dignity on which we are today engaged, is contrary to participation in the G5.
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According to the duo, “in the common understanding of our two States, the G5 Sahel cannot serve foreign interests at the expense of those of the peoples of the Sahel, let alone accept the diktat of any power in the name of a misguided and infantilising partnership that denies the right to sovereignty of our peoples and our States.”
“It is with all lucidity that Burkina Faso and the Republic of Niger have taken the historical responsibility to withdraw from this organisation.
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The Transitional Governments of Burkina Faso and the Republic of Niger deeply committed to the achievement of a lasting peace in the Sahelian space. remain convinced of the need for a united commitment of our States in the fight against terrorism and cross-border crime as well as for the development.
To this end, Burkina Faso and Niger will maintain their dynamic of cooperation, particularly within the Alliance of Sahel States, to make our Sahelian space an area of sovereignty assumed for the reconquest of our territories and the restoration of peace and security as a guarantee of shared development for the peoples of the Sahel.