The ECOWAS Parliament has ordered an investigation into the surge in terrorist attacks across West Africa and xenophobic violence against African migrants in South Africa.
The resolution was adopted on Tuesday during the First 2026 ECOWAS Parliament Ordinary Session in Abuja, according to report by News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Ghanaian MP and Third Deputy Speaker Alexander Afenyo-Markin tabled the motion under Rule 71, citing it as a “matter of direct and profound importance.”
Parliament directed its Committee on Political Affairs to examine recent terrorist incidents in Mali and Burkina Faso, as well as xenophobic attacks in South Africa affecting ECOWAS citizens.
Afenyo-Markin stressed the need for accountability and stronger safeguards for West African nationals both within the region and abroad.
“A regional community that cannot protect its own citizens in transit has not yet earned its name,” he said.
He referenced the February 14 attack in northern Burkina Faso, where Al-Qaeda-linked militants stopped a truck carrying 18 Ghanaian tomato traders, separated the men from the women, killed the men and set the vehicle on fire with the driver inside.
“These were breadwinners and fathers who sustain our regional supply chain,” he said.
He also pointed to the April 25 attack in Mali that killed Defence Minister Gen. Sadio Camara, which has disrupted the Ghana–Mali trade route. Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Ministry now says it cannot guarantee the safety of travellers along the corridor.
The MP accused ECOWAS of failing to fully enforce its 1979 Free Movement Protocol, noting that conflicting national policies continue to expose citizens to harassment at borders.
Afenyo-Markin further condemned xenophobic attacks in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Town and Pretoria, where Ghanaians, Nigerians, Zimbabweans and Ethiopians have been killed, displaced and had businesses looted.
He said President Cyril Ramaphosa’s condemnation of xenophobia during Freedom Day was insufficient without concrete action.
“Words from a ceremonial platform do not arrest perpetrators. The safety of our people must not be left vulnerable,” he added.
He called on South Africa to conduct immediate and transparent investigations and prosecutions, and proposed sending formal communication to both South Africa’s parliament and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.