In what has been described as a deft and pragmatic move to curb terrorism and other transborder crimes in the sub-region, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) recently activated its 5,000-strong Standby Force.
The initiative will, to a large extent, de-escalate the insecurity, including the Boko Haram insurgency and lately the Lakurawa bandits, which has over the last decade defied all strategies and mechanisms aimed at combating it.
The Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru, who made the disclosure during the 43rd ordinary meeting of the ECOWAS Committee of the Chiefs of Defence in Abuja penultimate Wednesday, called on the West African Chiefs of Defence Staff to close ranks to break the cycle of terrorism and armed violence confronting the region.
He said by leveraging their collective expertise, resources and commitment, they can make a tangible impact on fostering peace, stability and prosperity in the sub-region. Badaru said the meeting underscored their shared commitment to addressing the critical security challenges confronting the sub-region.
“The activation of this force underscores our collective determination to confront the stretch of terrorism with regard to the security of the sub-region.
“We must as a sub-region therefore recognise that our strife towards economic growth and development will invariably be fundamental to a home-grown sustainable peace and security.
“We as stakeholders in the sub-region must identify and strictly adjust to the changing order of the global landscape in which emerging threats of terrorism, organised crime, climate change, cybercrime and pandemics respond with respect to our parties.”
To underscore its importance, all the chiefs of defence staff of ECOWAS member countries attended the meeting except Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, which had withdrawn from the sub-regional body.
Others at the meeting were the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs Peace and Security, Dr. Abdel-Fatau Musah; Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa; Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Olufemi Oluyede; Chief of Naval Staff, Emmanuel Ogalla; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar; Chief of Defence Intelligence, Emmanuel Undiandeye; the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and members of the diplomatic community.
ECOWAS Commissioner, Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Dr. Abdel-Fatau Musah, said despite the recent withdrawal of three African countries, the ECOWAS maintains the free movement of persons and goods.
He said: “On 29 January 2025, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger formally withdrew their memberships from ECOWAS.
“Following the directives of the Authority of Heads of State and Government at the last Summit in December 2024, the ECOWAS Commission has now initiated a contingency plan to mitigate the unforeseen consequences of their withdrawal.
“I so wish to stress that ECOWAS still has its doors open to welcome back our brothers and sisters from the countries that recently withdrew from our community.
“In this regards, ECOWAS committee of heads of state has directed that despite the withdrawal, ECOWAS must maintain the free movement of people and goods and the rights of settlement and establishment to all citizens of our community, including those from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in the spirit of where ECOWAS is going, that is, building a community and a united force of people and we do not want the ordinary citizens of our member states to suffer.”
Musah said the pledges made by the member states were being reconfigured in compliance with the directive to activate the Standby Force in the kinetic mode.
Egbetokun commended the ECOWAS defence forces for playing critical roles in stabilising the region.
“Our collective efforts to enhance regional security, counter transnational threats and promote defence cooperation will no doubt yield possible outcomes for our nation and our people,” he said.
Nigeria’s president and chairman of ECOWAS, Bola Tinubu, had during the 65th Ordinary Session of the regional bloc in July 2024 in Abuja, called on Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS to work towards the establishment and sustenance of a regional standby force for the security and economic advancement of the community.
President Tinubu highlighted the expediency of a standby force in the face of growing security threats. Consequently, the ministers of finance and defence of the regional body met recently in Abuja to raise funds for activating the ECOWAS Standby Force to boost counter-terrorism efforts.
Coming on the heels of the funding halt to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) by the President Donald Trump administration, Blueprint is of the conviction that the success of the ECOWAS Standby Force in eliminating terrorism, banditry and other cross-border crimes in the sub-region region is a fait accompli.
It is instructive that the US Congressman, Scott Perry, had accused the USAID of funded terrorist organisations, including Boko Haram. Perry, a Republican representing Pennsylvania, had during the inaugural hearing of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency said: “Who gets some of that money? Does that name ring a bell to anybody in the room? Because your money, your money, $697 million annually, plus the shipments of cash funds in Madrasas, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, ISIS Khorasan, terrorist training camps. That’s what it’s funding.”
We commend President Tinubu for making Nigeria’s National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), which has been widely acknowledged as one of the best on the continent, a regional centre to enable all ECOWAS member states to benefit from capacity building and other related opportunities it offers. This gesture is, indeed, the hallmark of purpose-driven leadership.