The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) says it supports a full‑scale investigation into the brutal killing of Ghanaian traders by the Jama’at Nasr al‑Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) terrorist group in Titao, northern Burkina Faso.
In an exclusive interview with Joy News’s Blessed Sogah on the sidelines of the ECOWAS Navy Chiefs Summit in Accra, Abdel‑Fatau Musah, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, strongly condemned the February 14 attack and stressed the need for accountability.
The attack, which targeted a group of Ghanaian tomato traders travelling through the volatile Sahel corridor, left eight Ghanaians dead and others injured. The victims were ambushed by suspected JNIM militants — an extremist group active across the region — as they carried out routine cross‑border trade between northern Ghana and Burkina Faso.
President John Mahama has been visiting survivors at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra, where injured traders are receiving treatment after being evacuated by the Ghana Armed Forces.
The incident has reignited concern over the safety of Ghanaian nationals engaging in informal regional commerce, particularly along routes where insurgent groups operate with increasing frequency. Cross‑border trade in agricultural products such as tomatoes and onions is a vital livelihood for many northern Ghanaian communities, but has become riskier due to deteriorating security conditions in parts of the Sahel.
