ECOWAS plans 5000-man force to decimate terrorists

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State and Government are planning to institute a 5000-man kinetic force to tackle terrorism in the region.

The regional bloc also disclosed that 1,605 terrorist attacks have been recorded between January and August 2024 in West Africa with a total of 6,956 fatalities.

The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at the International lecture organised by the News Agency of Nigeria.

Giving the breakdown of the figure, Touray who was represented by the Programme Officer, Regional Security Division, Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, ECOWAS Commission, Isaac Armstrong said Burkina Faso accounted for 611 attacks and 3,810 fatalities; Mali 546 with 1424 attacks, Nigeria 238 attacks with 905 fatalities, Niger 153 attacks with 676 fatalities; Benin 44 attacks with 66 fatalities and Togo 13 attacks with 75 fatalities.

He said, “On the directives of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, efforts are ongoing to set up a 5000-man Kinetic Force to fight against Terrorism using the platform of the ECOWAS Standby. This regional resolve does not take away the responsibility bestowed on individual Member States in taking full ownership of their National Security responsibilities.

“Undoubtedly, Terrorism is the major security threat faced by ECOWAS Member States. Initially confined to certain countries in the Sahel (Mali and Niger) and the Lake Chad Basin (Nigeria), terrorist attacks have multiplied and spread to other countries (Burkina Faso) and are now a real threat to coastal countries (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo).

“In 2024 from January to August, statistics from our Early Warning and Regional Security data platforms show that a total of 1605 attacks have been recorded in the region with a total of 6956 fatalities with Burkina Faso accounting for 611 attacks and 3810 fatalities; Mali 546 with 1424 attacks, Nigeria 238 attacks with 905 fatalities, Niger 153 attacks with 676 fatalities; Benin 44 attacks with 66 fatalities and Togo 13 attacks with 75 fatalities.”

In 2023, he noted that a total of 3,587 terrorist attacks were recorded in the ECOWAS region.

According to him, the attacks include about 2000 in Burkina Faso, over 1044 in Mali, and 500 in Niger.

“ These incidents have resulted in close to 9000 fatalities: including 7000 in the 3 Sahelian Countries Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Terrorist incidents in the coastal region include 177 in Benin and Togo that resulted in 203 deaths.

“In addition to the unbearable toll on human lives, insecurity continues to have dire humanitarian consequences. In just the three ECOWAS Sahelian Countries, i.e. Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, a total of 4.8 million people faced food insecurity, 2.4 million people were internally displaced, and close to 9000 schools remained closed,” he added.

He stated that a disaggregation of the data shows that Burkina Faso had the highest number of food-insecure people, close to 2.2 million, followed by Niger with 1.9 million, and Mali with about 800,000.

“Burkina Faso also accounts for the largest number of internally displaced people – about 2 million; while Mali and Niger each have close to half a million displaced persons. The number of schools closed stood at 6 000 in Burkina Faso, 1700 in Mali and 1000 in Niger,” he said.