Col. Amadou Abdramane, spokesman for Niger’s junta, read from the statement in a televised address. ECOWAS, he said, had turned away from “the ideals of its founding fathers” and failed to support the three countries, which are wracked by Islamist insurgencies, in their “existential fight against terrorism and insecurity.”
The three countries formed a mutual defense pact in September. But Sunday’s announcement marked an escalation in tensions that soared last year following a military coup in Niger — the last of the three countries to lose their democratic governments.
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