ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CCDS) are in Abuja to consider possible strategies to counter the emergence of terrorism, piracy, political instability and the proliferation of small arms which threaten national security and regional peace and security in the West Africa region.
The community’s defence chiefs at the opening of the meeting on Tuesday at the ECOWAS Commission recalled that those threats were deeply rooted in political, social and economic factors stating their commitment to vigorously address the issues in order not to only avert the negative consequences of these threats but to also promote the prospects od socio-economic and political development as envisaged in the ECOWAS Charter.
Speaking, the Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff and Chair of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CCDS), Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin called for the harnessing of collective experiences to be brought to bear on each agenda item with the sole aim of arriving at decisions that will not only promote but also allow for the prosperity of the ECOWAS Community and its people.
Air Chief Marshal Petinrin noted that “in recent times we have had our individual and collective challenges to security and defence in the ECOWAS Region. The instability in Libya and its anticipated spill over to our sub region as well as the recent upsurge in the acts of terror being experienced in several countries including Nigeria are issues that require urgent attention”.
“Similarly, piracy/sea robbery thrives in the maritime domains of some member states within the Gulf of Guinea while small arms proliferation, political instability and internal security challenges and its socio-economic and political implications continue to stare us in the face”, Petinrin added.
He said though significant progress has been recorded in the ongoing Security Sector Reforms in Guinea Bissau as well as the issue of the ECOWAS Stand-by Force, the spate of terrorist attacks within the region and its accompanying implications has necessitated sensitization on counter terrorism strategies.
In his remarks, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Major General Mahamane Toure said “On the sea shores of the Gulf of Guinea, piracy and other criminal related acts are becoming regular, threatening local and international transport ships and their cargoes transiting in Benin and lately Togo bays, compounding the unresolved issue of trans- shipments of drugs transiting in the Gulf of Bissau and attacks on the petroleum sector in the Delta and ECCAS areas”.
Toure, while speaking to newsmen stated that the Defence Chiefs were aware of the specific security threats in the region and the economic implications. “We know exactly what is happening in the northern part of Niger, following the Lybian crisis. We know the piracy acts that are happening in the Delta, the Gulf of Guinea. We know the specific issues of drug trafficking. It is therefore up to the Chiefs of Defence to come up with specific strategies, specific plans of action which can be implemented”.
The CCDS meeting is being attended by the Defence Chiefs of ECOWAS Member States, the Force Commanders of the United Nations Missions in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI) and Liberia (UNMIL), the Commander of the French Forces based in Dakar and representatives from the United Nations in West Africa (UNOWA) office, also based in Dakar.
They will consider the proposals by the Forum of Ministers of Security on the code of conduct for military-security personnel, maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea; counter-terrorism strategy and an INTERPOL-European Union-ECOWAS initiative on security.
They will also be updated on the status of the Bamako-based ECOWAS Small Arms Programme (ECOSAP) and discuss other issues relating to the regional logistic depot in Freetown.
They will also be briefed by the ECOWAS presidential task force on malaria on the regional initiative for the elimination of the disease.
The community’s defence chiefs at the opening of the meeting on Tuesday at the ECOWAS Commission recalled that those threats were deeply rooted in political, social and economic factors stating their commitment to vigorously address the issues in order not to only avert the negative consequences of these threats but to also promote the prospects od socio-economic and political development as envisaged in the ECOWAS Charter.
Speaking, the Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff and Chair of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CCDS), Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin called for the harnessing of collective experiences to be brought to bear on each agenda item with the sole aim of arriving at decisions that will not only promote but also allow for the prosperity of the ECOWAS Community and its people.
Air Chief Marshal Petinrin noted that “in recent times we have had our individual and collective challenges to security and defence in the ECOWAS Region. The instability in Libya and its anticipated spill over to our sub region as well as the recent upsurge in the acts of terror being experienced in several countries including Nigeria are issues that require urgent attention”.
“Similarly, piracy/sea robbery thrives in the maritime domains of some member states within the Gulf of Guinea while small arms proliferation, political instability and internal security challenges and its socio-economic and political implications continue to stare us in the face”, Petinrin added.
He said though significant progress has been recorded in the ongoing Security Sector Reforms in Guinea Bissau as well as the issue of the ECOWAS Stand-by Force, the spate of terrorist attacks within the region and its accompanying implications has necessitated sensitization on counter terrorism strategies.
In his remarks, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Major General Mahamane Toure said “On the sea shores of the Gulf of Guinea, piracy and other criminal related acts are becoming regular, threatening local and international transport ships and their cargoes transiting in Benin and lately Togo bays, compounding the unresolved issue of trans- shipments of drugs transiting in the Gulf of Bissau and attacks on the petroleum sector in the Delta and ECCAS areas”.
Toure, while speaking to newsmen stated that the Defence Chiefs were aware of the specific security threats in the region and the economic implications. “We know exactly what is happening in the northern part of Niger, following the Lybian crisis. We know the piracy acts that are happening in the Delta, the Gulf of Guinea. We know the specific issues of drug trafficking. It is therefore up to the Chiefs of Defence to come up with specific strategies, specific plans of action which can be implemented”.
The CCDS meeting is being attended by the Defence Chiefs of ECOWAS Member States, the Force Commanders of the United Nations Missions in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI) and Liberia (UNMIL), the Commander of the French Forces based in Dakar and representatives from the United Nations in West Africa (UNOWA) office, also based in Dakar.
They will consider the proposals by the Forum of Ministers of Security on the code of conduct for military-security personnel, maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea; counter-terrorism strategy and an INTERPOL-European Union-ECOWAS initiative on security.
They will also be updated on the status of the Bamako-based ECOWAS Small Arms Programme (ECOSAP) and discuss other issues relating to the regional logistic depot in Freetown.
They will also be briefed by the ECOWAS presidential task force on malaria on the regional initiative for the elimination of the disease.
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