West African leaders have called for the release of 46 ivorien soldiers being detained in Mali by January the 1st.
The soldiers have been held for four months and are accused by Bamako of being mercenaries. Africa’s insist the soldiers were part of a peacekeeping mission in Mali.
[wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://youtu.be/xNosv9p9eN8″ lightbox=0 lightboxsize=1 lightboxwidth=960 lightboxheight=540 autoopen=0 autoopendelay=0 autoclose=0 lightboxtitle=”” lightboxgroup=”” lightboxshownavigation=0 showimage=”” lightboxoptions=”” videowidth=600 videoheight=400 keepaspectratio=1 autoplay=0 loop=0 videocss=”position:relative;display:block;background-color:#000;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;margin:0 auto;” playbutton=”https://www.tvcnews.tv/wp-content/plugins/wonderplugin-video-embed/engine/playvideo-64-64-0.png”]
The Economic community of West African States issued the ultimatum as it concluded its 62nd Summit on Sunday evening in the Nigerian Capital Abuja.
The block also announced the creation of the regional Force to fight terrorism a restore constitutional order in some countries in the region.
ECOWAS also expressed concern about the security and the humanitarian situation in Burkina Faso and said it would assist the country.
The 62nd ordinary session of the authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and government scheduled to start at 10 am was delayed due to the groundbreaking and Foundation laying event held earlier. The meeting eventually started at 3pm with seven presidents from member countries in attendance and others represented.
The the newly appointed president of the ECOWAS commission was sworn into office in line with the protocols of the regional body.
This meeting is the last session to be attended by President Buhari and he used the occasion to thank other member countries for the honour Nigeria received in his tenure.
He he urged the new management of the ECOWAS commission to work assiduously to complete the review and harmonization of the protocols on good governance and democracy.
The chair of the ECOWAS authority heads of states and government on his part expressed worry at what he described as a regression in the entrenchment of democracy in the region.
The continued stay in power of military in Mali, Republic of Guinea and Burkina Faso he says has disastrous consequences on the lives of the people.
Awards of Excellence were bestowed on outstanding Persona who had contributed to the development of the region.
The leaders at the summit agreed that for the region to experience the desired development it cannot be business as usual.
The president of the ECOWAS commission announced 2027 as the new date for the kickoff of The ECOWAS single currency.
