The ECOWAS Parliament has ordered an investigation into the escalating terror attacks across the sub-region and the recent wave of xenophobic violence against African migrants in South Africa.
The regional parliamentarians took the decision during plenary at the First 2026 ECOWAS Parliament Ordinary Session on Tuesday in Abuja.
The decision followed a motion moved by Ghanaian MP and Third Deputy Speaker, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, on a “matter of urgent direct and profound importance.”
The Parliament subsequently directed its Committee on Political Affairs to investigate recent terror attacks across the sub-region, particularly in Mali and Burkina Faso, as well as xenophobic attacks in South Africa targeting ECOWAS citizens.
In his submission, Afenyo-Markin called for urgent accountability and stronger protections for West African nationals amid growing safety concerns.
Citing Rule 71 of the Parliament, he urged regional lawmakers to confront what he described as “matters of direct and profound importance.”
“A regional community that cannot protect its own citizens in transit has not yet earned its name,” he said.
The Third Deputy Speaker recalled the February 14 terror attack in northern Burkina Faso, where militants linked to Al-Qaeda intercepted a truck carrying 18 Ghanaian tomato traders.
“The attackers separated the men from the women before executing them and setting the vehicle ablaze with the driver still inside. These were not statistics. They were breadwinners, fathers and sons, the quiet engines of the regional supply chain that feeds our markets,” he said.
Afenyo-Markin also cited the April 25 terrorist attack in Mali that claimed the life of the country’s Defence Minister, Gen. Sadio Camara. He noted that the incident had effectively cut off the Ghana–Mali trade route, adding that Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs could no longer assure the safety of travelers along the corridor.
The MP faulted ECOWAS for its failure to fully uphold the Free Movement Protocol adopted in 1979, noting that national policies often clash with regional commitments, leaving citizens vulnerable to harassment at borders.
“The daily reality of our citizens contradicts the promise at every turn,” he said.
Afenyo-Markin also condemned the widespread xenophobic attacks in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Town, and Pretoria, where Ghanaian, Nigerian, Zimbabwean, Ethiopian, and other African nationals were killed, displaced, or had their shops looted.
He noted that recent remarks by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa condemning xenophobia were not enough and called for stronger action.
“Words delivered from a ceremonial platform do not arrest a single perpetrator. The safety of our people must never be a matter open to devastation,” he said.
The lawmaker appealed to the South African government to conduct immediate, thorough, and transparent investigations and prosecutions. He also moved that a formal communication be sent to South Africa’s Parliament and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights for necessary action.
