Insecurity: Experts meet to equip ECOWAS standby force
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is at the last lap of equipping the ECOWAS Standby Force saddled with the duty of combating terrorism, banditry, violent extremism and political instability in the West African subregion with the gathering of military and government experts in Abuja to validate the Logistics Depot policies of the […]
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is at the last lap of equipping the ECOWAS Standby Force saddled with the duty of combating terrorism, banditry, violent extremism and political instability in the West African subregion with the gathering of military and government experts in Abuja to validate the Logistics Depot policies of the economic bloc.
The meeting is coming ahead of the commissioning of the recently completed ECOWAS Logistics Depot in Lungi, Sierra Leone.
Speaking at the opening of the validation exercise, the Commission’s Commissioner, Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, said the increased acts of terrorism, violent extremism and political instability within the region have necessitated the urgent need for fully functional and operational static depot.
Musah, who was represented by Dr Sanni Mohammed, Acting Head of Peace Support Operations in ECOWAS, said that the project is critical for peace support operations, explaining that the depot is expected to warehouse all the equipment to be deployed for operations.
He said: “The ECOWAS Commission has injected substantial resources towards the construction as well as the operationalisation of the depot, and it remains a critical flagship project for ECOWAS region’s peace support operations infrastructure.
“The increased acts of terrorism, violent extremism, and political instability being experienced in a number of our countries, with heavy and dire consequences, are a clear testament to the urgent need for a well-resourced logistics strategy with a fully functional and operational and static depot.”
He said it took the Commission this long to put in place the Depot “not because of reluctance on the part of management, but because of the need to mobilise the required resources that will enable the Commission to put in place a depot that will be consistent with not only continental but also global best practises. So the depot is in place now in Lungi, Sierra Leone.
The Meeting Chairman, Air Commodore Sampson Eyekosi, said the ECOWAS standby force is not taking the role of the Multinational Joint Taskforce (MNJTF), insisting that security is a connected thing.
He said: “You cannot work in isolation. It’s not taking any role. We all work together for the attainment of peace and security in the region.”
On the number of personnel to be deployed as standby force, Eyekosi said the number would be determined by the threat, stating that: “It is not fixed. The threat determines how big the force will be. However, units in member states are placed on alert based on what is pledged to the collective effort and they are trained together, they are prepared, they are deployed as the situation requires”.