The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has stated that the military coups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are fuelling insecurity in the region.
ECOWAS Commission President, Omar Touray, made the submission in his welcome address at the 51st Ordinary Session of ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council at Ministerial Level in Abuja, yesterday.
He pointed out that the overall security environment in the region has continued to be challenged.
Touray said: “On the political front, the transition roadmaps and timetables agreed with the transition authorities in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso for rapid and peaceful restoration of constitutional order have been implemented at varied paces amid worsening security situations.
“The attempted coup d’état in Niger has further distracted attention from the support to these transition processes as the transition countries seek to forge a solidarity with the military authorities in the Republic of Niger, thereby creating an impression of a divide between them and ECOWAS.”
He submitted that the putsches are not only “based on fake narrative and false justifications, they are also a driver of insecurity in the region.”
In a related development, a Professor of International Relations and Strategic Studies at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Femi Otubanjo, yesterday, listed neo-colonialism, international jihadism, regionalism and debts as some of the factors fuelling terrorism and violence in West Africa and the Sahel.
He noted that neo-colonialism, which still exists in Africa, promotes underdevelopment.
At a three-day international security management course, organised by NIIA with the theme, ‘Emerging Security and Economic Issues in the ECOWAS Sub-Region’, yesterday in Lagos, Otubanjo, who spoke on understanding the history and nature of violence in the area, stated that poverty, dependence, drug trade, external sponsorship of terrorism and desertification were other factors causing violence.
He observed: “There are suspicions that drug cartels might be the catalysts of instability and attempted coup in Guinea Bissau. The government must be able to control such cartels.
“For instance, there are villages in the North East that are buried by sand dunes, creating additional problems. When a state collapses, there is a spillover of people seeking refuge. These are contributors to instability.”
Ambassador/Deputy Representative of Burkina Faso to ECOWAS and Charge d’Affaires to Nigeria, Pascal Gouba, said terrorist attacks, transactional and organisational crimes undermine security of the sub-region.
He stressed that besides insecurity, bad governance, lack of social justice and cohesion had frustrated efforts to enthrone stability in West Africa.
The envoy advised the bloc to be more proactive on security issues.
Gouba regretted that the terrorism of the last eight years in his home country had degenerated into a humanitarian crisis, resulting in the closure of 5,700 schools, 200 health facilities and displacement of thousands.
“Our states must develop resilience in tackling insecurity. There must be concerted efforts, because no nation is immune to it. ECOWAS must be more responsive and diligent with the implementation of an action plan to combat terrorism,” he appealed.
