Niger Coup: Jihadists Shoot Ghanaian Truck Driver And Burned Trucks Carrying Food Through Burkina Faso Road

• A Ghanaian truck driver carrying food from Niger to Ghana has been shot by jihadists controlling a major road in Burkina Faso
• The jihadists also set ablaze about three trucks whose drivers fled sporadic shooting by the jihadists
• The drivers used the dangerous Dori route because Nigerien soldiers refused to grant them an escort in the wake of the political situation in the country
• Security analyst Col Festus Aboagye (rtd) has told YEN.com.gh that trade unions can appeal with ECOWAS to review the sanctions on Niger to deal with goods stuck at the borders

A Ghanaian truck driver carrying food from Niger to Ghana has been shot by suspected jihadists controlling a major road in Burkina Faso.

The driver was compelled to take the dangerous route after Nigerien border authorities refused to provide an escort to drivers stuck at their border in the wake of the political situation in the country.

The gunmen on the dangerous Burkina Faso road also burnt at least three trucks that also dared to ply that route to bring tonnes of beans and onions to Ghana.

The driver who got shot is, however, recovering from his wounds.

Masawudu Dambala, a businessman who owns several trucks, narrated the story to Joy News when he recounted the challenges his trading business is facing in the wake of the Niger coup.

The threat of a possible invasion by ECOWAS forces and the security response by the Nigerien junta have made bringing foods like beans, cowhide, and onions among others a dangerous venture.

“They were waiting for military escort but it delayed for many days. After one of the vehicles succeeded in crossing the border without the escort, others decided to follow.”

“Our truck was the lead vehicle. The terrorist chased the trucks on motorbikes and ordered them to stop but the driver refused, not knowing there were a lot of them along the route. They started shooting them,” Dambala told Joy News.

Dangerous Dori route in Burkina Faso

The Dori route into Burkina Faso from Niger is being controlled by Islamist terrorists and has since been abandoned by long-distance trucks.

Reports say there are heightened terrorist activities on that route, but the driver who was shot and those whose trucks were set ablaze took the risk because their goods were rotting away in Niger.

Mahamadu Maazu, one of the traders whose driver was attacked on the Dori route, said he was expecting his onions at the Kwadaso Market in Kumasi when he got a call from the driver about the unfortunate incident.

“The leading truck was transporting beans and the next one had onions. That was the one transporting my onions. Those were the first to be attacked. They called me to tell me about the situation and I refused to ask any further questions,” he also recounted.

He said his driver informed him that all the 330 huge bags of onions he was bringing wouldn’t arrive because the truck had been burnt.

ECOWAS sanctions were too hasty

Security analyst and author Col Festus Aboagye (rtd) has told YEN.com.gh in an exclusive interview that the latest reports of food getting stuck in Niger and drivers risking dangerous routes to deliver the goods on time is the firms up concerns about ECOWAS’ hasty sanctions on Niger.

He explained that the economic bloc should have given a reasonable ultimatum for the start of the sanctions – say one week – to give traders and their goods enough time to leave Niger.

“And even after that, the sanctions could have been introduced incrementally, not a one-off thing like they did. Take the EU’s sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine invasion, for example, they started with sanctioning individuals or actively supporting actions and implementing policies that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of Ukraine.

“Then they went further to include over 300 members of the Russian parliament and an additional 27 individuals. Then they went further with restrictions on economic relations with the non-government controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, then restrictions on Russia’s access EU’s capital and financial markets and services.

“The EU has been intensifying the sanctions since then to get Russia to tow the line. So it does not make sense for ECOWAS to just slap a blanket sanction at once on Niger. It is unconventional,” he said.

The teaching consultant at the Kofi Anan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) added that because usually sanctions affect the citizens, especially the poor, than those in power ECOWAS should have been more forward-looking in its response to the coup.

Col Festus Aboagye (rtd) has urged trade unions to approach ECOWAS and appeal to them to take a second look at the sanctions against Niger.

Security in Niger is heightened

Not long ago, ECOWAS defence chiefs met in Accra for a two-day summit on August 17 and 18 to finalise a plan for the possible deployment of military forces in Niger.

The meeting was first scheduled for August 12 but was subsequently postponed indefinitely.

The summit in Accra follows a directive of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in response to the July 26 coup.

Niger has since been hit by trade sanctions by ECOWAS.

African Union suspends Niger over coup

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh reported in a related story that the Republic of Niger has been suspended as a member of the African Union (AU).

The AU announced this development on Tuesday, August 22, at the AU’s Peace and Security Council meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The AU has warned Western countries looking to interfere in the continent’s affairs to keep off.

Source: YEN.com.gh