ECOWAS to Mediate Benin - Burkina Fasso Border Dispute

ECOWAS intervenes in Benin-Burkina Faso border dispute

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has intervened in the prevailing border dispute between Benin Republic and Burkina Faso, ECOWAS Executive Secretary Mohammed Ibn Chambas said in Abuja Monday.
Chambas told newsmen in the Nigerian capital Abuja that he had contacted foreign ministers of the two countries with a view to resolving the feud.

"We have appealed to them to exercise maximum restraint and to avoid any actions likely to mar the cordial relationship between them," he said.

He recalled the satisfactory manner Benin and Niger Republics resolved their border dispute and urged that the current one be tackled within international norms and within the framework of the ECOWAS community.

The dispute which has caused tension in the two countries was sparked off by the alleged unilateral closure of the common border by Benin Republic.

Two villages are involved in the dispute along the border with Benin which accuses Burkina Faso of moving boundary pillars.

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