Following Niger Republic’s termination of agreement and notice to the United States of America for the immediate evacuation of its military base in the West African country, a peacebuilding think tank, Foundation for Peace Professionals also known as PeacePro has called on the leadership of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and African Union (AU) to assist Niger Republic facilitate peaceful ejection of foreign military bases in its country without escalating tension.
PeacePro said that the desire of the people of Niger is to see its country free of foreign military presence and the regional body should be seen aiding the process in a brotherly and professional manner.
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In a statement by the Executive Director of PeacePro, Amb Abdulrazaq Hamzat, the group said that AU and ECOWAS’s duty is to aid its member states in their independent quest for economic and security stability while leveraging their shared objective to advance regional solidarity.
According to Hamzat, AU and ECOWAS cannot standby and watch while the Niger Republic goes through the process of negotiating an end to foreign military presence in its country alone and then expect member states to see the regional body as a shield that is worthy of being regarded in charting a future for themselves.
It should be noted that Niger Republic had earlier ejected another Western military base (France ) from the country.
Recall that PeacePro in its October 2023 report titled “Africa Peace Insight” called on AU and other regional bodies in the continent to facilitate an end to foreign military presence in Africa within the next 24 months.
PeacePro had stated that the African continent will experience lasting peace when the African Union and other regional bodies make a firm decision to demilitarise the continent by putting an end to the presence of foreign military bases and state-connected mercenaries on the continent.
As part of the recommendations contained in its maiden edition of the Africa Peace Insight (API) report in Nigeria, the organisation stated that the demilitarisation of the continent would reduce the availability of small arms and light weapons in the hands of non-state actors, thereby giving state forces fewer challenges in dealing with insecurity.
PeacePro maintained that ECOWAS and AU must be seen leading efforts to demilitarize Africa to gain the confidence of the people of the continent.
