The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) authority of heads of state and government has asked its commission to urgently provide $2,850,000 to each of five member states as part of the bloc’s counterterrorism efforts.
The beneficiary countries are Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo, all of which are facing varying security challenges.
In a communique issued after the 68th ordinary session of the ECOWAS heads of state and government held in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, on Sunday, the authority instructed that the donations be sourced from the regional security fund.
The authority also ordered urgent actions to operationalise the regional counterterrorism brigade in accordance with the funding mechanisms proposed by the ECOWAS ministers of finance and ministers of defence.
Authority also asked the commission to urgently convene meetings of the committee of chiefs of intelligence service and the committee of chiefs of defence staff to advance the activation of the brigade.
The bloc said it was concerned about the increasing deterioration of the security situation across the region, particularly in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin, characterised by continuing attacks, kidnapping and sabotage operations by terrorist armed groups, insurgents and bandits.
According to the ECOWAS authority of heads of state and government, six million people in the region have been affected by mass displacements and serious humanitarian crises.
The regional bloc also condemned the abductions of schoolchildren in northern Nigeria and commended President Bola Tinubu for securing their release.
ECOWAS urged the international community, through the African Union (AU) and the UN security council, to urgently respond to the needs of terrorism-affected countries in the region in a coherent and coordinated manner.
The authority urged member states and directed the ECOWAS commission to sustain their engagements with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger for effective and strengthened collaboration to tackle the deteriorating security situation in the region.
At Sunday’s summit in Abuja, President Bola Tinubu asked regional leaders to unite against terrorism and military takeovers in the region.
Tinubu, who was represented by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, said the external threats facing the region “demand nothing less than a united front” from member states.
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