As the security threats multiply and international troops are forced out, the military rulers in the Sahel have equivocated about their commitments to restoring civilian rule
, The promise of electoral contests to restore constitutional and nominally civilian rule will be a key issue across much of West and West-Central Africa this year, and particularly in the continuing battle of wills between Sahelian military regimes and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
German missionary Father Hans Joachim Lohre who was kidnapped in Mali's capital Bamakoin 2022 has been freed by his captors after he disappeared more than one year ago, a church official has said.