ECOWAS Initiates Task Force To Combat Terrorism In Nigeria, Neighboring Countries
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is in the process of creating a standby force to provide aid to Nigeria and other West African nations contending with terrorism.
The regional economic bloc has expressed concerns about the increasing terrorism in the Sahel region and revealed yesterday its intentions to raise $2.4 billion to establish the standby force.
The ECOWAS Commissioner in charge of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, disclosed the information in Abuja yesterday.
Musah addressed the attendees during the commencement of a three-day consultative session involving Commandants from the three designated ECOWAS Training Centres of Excellence.
He said: “If you look at our region, it is being ravaged by terrorists. Today, Burkina Faso has overtaken Afghanistan as the most-terrorised state on earth, and Africa has become home to terrorist organisations.
“Elsewhere in the world, there are opportunistic terrorists attacks like we saw in some countries not too long ago.
“We are faced with the nightmare of having one of our member states being completely occupied by terrorist groups.
“If they set up a front base in one country then no country is safe, and we have already seen the impact of that on some of the coastal countries – Benin, Togo, Ghana and Cote d’voire– over the past few years.”
The ECOWAS commissioner stated that Nigeria has successfully weakened the Boko Haram terrorists, affirming that they no longer pose a significant threat to the peace and security of the country.
Musah emphasized the need for counter-terrorism forces to contain the spread of terrorism across the region.
“This is the decision, and in the coming weeks, ECOWAS has already, with the Chiefs of Defence Staff, developed operational modalities, the concept of operations and everything for us to aggregate.
“It will be something like an advance and rapid reaction force of a battalion that will be able to confront terrorists’ bases.
“The Heads of State have decided that on the first year, we must raise about $2.4 billion to support the operation of this force in order to face the terrorists,” Musah added.
Musah disclosed that the Heads of State instructed member-states to contribute $1 billion to initiate the operation of the standby force, with Ministers of Defence and Finance from the sub-region set to convene to devise funding strategies.
The post ECOWAS Initiates Task Force To Combat Terrorism In Nigeria, Neighboring Countries appeared first on Naija News.
