Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the military head of Burkina Faso, delivered a speech on Saturday, condemning international sanctions imposed on Niger and drawing parallels with similar actions taken against Mali and Côte d’Ivoire.
“Do you think there are weak men in Niger? There are fighters…the Nigérien army is warlike. They have been fighting for years. It’s not an army of parade or a peacekeeping army,” he stated.
Traoré lamented the toll of the sanctions on the Nigérien people, highlighting the tragic consequences of disrupted access to essential services like electricity and medicine. “Thousands of Nigériens died on their hospital beds for a lack of electricity or lack of medicine. It is a crime! They are responsible for these sanctions, they are responsible for these deaths.”
He went on to criticize the tactics employed by those imposing sanctions, accusing them of attempting to incite unrest among the populace. “They tried to make Mali suffer…hoping that the population would revolt. It is not working,” he asserted.
Traoré also aimed the international community’s silence in the face of blatant violations, particularly regarding the closure of seaports to landlocked countries like Niger. “They have violated the texts. The international community has not said anything,” he remarked.
Amidst the criticism, Traoré found hope in the lessons learned from these challenges. “They taught us very good lessons, and we understood very well,” he stated. “We must do everything to make independence and sovereignty happen.”
He concluded the speech with a declaration of withdrawal from reliance on external forces and a call to focus on strengthening regional alliances. “We have decided with all soul and conscience to withdraw and concentrate on our common organization, which is the AES,” Captain Traoré announced.
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