The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is planning to set up a 5,000-man kinetic force to combat terrorism in the region.


This is coming following 1,605 terrorist attacks and 6,956 fatalities in West Africa between January and August 2024, ECOWAS.


President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray, represented by Isaac Armstrong, Programme Officer, Regional Security Division, Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security,  said this at the News Agency of Nigeria’s international lecture in Abuja on Thursday.


According to Armstrong, Burkina Faso accounted for 611 attacks and 3,810 fatalities, while Mali recorded 546 attacks with 1,424 fatalities. Nigeria experienced 238 attacks with 905 fatalities, Niger had 153 attacks with 676 fatalities, Benin recorded 44 attacks with 66 fatalities, and Togo had 13 attacks with 75 fatalities.


He said in 2023, the region saw 3,587 terrorist attacks, resulting in close to 9,000 fatalities, with 7,000 of those in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger alone.


According to him, the humanitarian consequences are dire, with 4.8 million people facing food insecurity, 2.4 million internally displaced, and nearly 9,000 schools closed in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.


Touray noted that terrorism is the major security threat in the region, spreading from Sahel countries to coastal nations. To address this, ECOWAS is committed to strengthening regional security through cooperation and support for national efforts.


He said: “These incidents have resulted in close to 9000 fatalities: including 7000 in the 3 Sahelian Countries Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Terrorist incidents in the coastal region include 177 in Benin and Togo that resulted in 203 deaths.


“In addition to the unbearable toll on human lives, insecurity continues to have dire humanitarian consequences. In just the three ECOWAS Sahelian Countries, i.e. Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, a total of 4.8 million people faced food insecurity, 2.4 million people were internally displaced, and close to 9000 schools remained closed,” he added.


He stated that a disaggregation of the data shows that Burkina Faso had the highest number of food-insecure people, close to 2.2 million, followed by Niger with 1.9 million, and Mali with about 800 000.


“Burkina Faso also accounts for the largest number of internally displaced people – about 2 million; while Mali and Niger each have close to half a million displaced persons. The number of schools closed stood at 6 000 in Burkina Faso, 1700 in Mali and 1000 in Niger.”


He added that the regional force will utilize the ECOWAS Standby platform and aims to support national security efforts in member states.


The ECOWAS Commission President noted that the regional resolve does not take away the responsibility bestowed on individual member states to take full ownership of their national security responsibilities.


credit:  PRNigeria