ECOWAS defence chiefs seek return of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger

On Friday, the Chiefs of Defence Staff in West Africa called for the return of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, made the call when he led other ECOWAS defence chiefs on a visit to the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) on Friday in Abuja.

Musa, the Chairman of the ECOWAS Committee of Defence Chiefs, said that the return of the three countries to the regional bloc was necessary to defeat the insecurity ravaging the region, especially the insurgency.

He said that efforts were ongoing on their part to ensure that the three countries were back, adding that all hands must be on deck to curtail insecurity in West Africa.

“For us, we feel that without security, there can’t be progress, and the threats we are facing, especially insurgency, are high.

“We think it is very important that we partner together to achieve success. No country can do it alone, and that’s why it’s important.

“We know we have three countries that have decided to step aside.

“We are making all efforts to ensure that they come back to the fold because we know even they, on their own, cannot withstand this.

“We know the relevance that if they fall, it will also drag us down, and that is why it is important for us as West Africans to continue to work together,’’ he said.

The CDS appreciated the National Coordinator of NCTC, Maj.-Gen. Adamu Laka, for doing a wonderful job in the nation’s counter-terrorism efforts.

He said the insurgency in the region was spreading wide and fast, urging the defence chiefs to leave no stone unturned to curb the menace.

“We are sure that we are going to work together to ensure that there is total peace in our own region.

“I had the privilege of being the theatre commander in the Northeast when this horrendous exercise started, and it started like a joke,’’ he added.

Earlier, the National Coordinator of the NCTC said there was a need for cooperation among the West African countries to defeat terrorism.

Laka also said countries in the West African region must share experiences, adding that sharing experiences remained one of the critical ways.

He said,We hope to partner with our brothers in the West African sub-region and the Sahel. They say if your brother’s house is on fire, it can also reach yours.

“So we need to learn from one another. We don’t plan to make this place the only place. We plan to partner with Abidjan.

“While we are experts in the preventive aspects, we are going to partner with all those centres to address the threat of terrorism.

“Once the declaration is passed, we plan to visit your centre in Abidjan.

“We are in the process of talking about how we are going to come together to address this threat that is really stopping development and stopping our people from reaping the dividends of democracy,’’ he said.

Laka said the centre was well equipped to address the threat of terrorism, adding that the centre had put in place state-of-the-art forensic laboratories.

According to him, NCTC has toxicology labs, fingerprint labs, DNA labs, handwriting labs, and so on.

“These are things that will facilitate the threat of terrorism investigation and so on,’’ he added.