ECOWAS Defence Chiefs plead for Return Of Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso

The Chiefs of Defence Staff of ECOWAS member-states have appealed to Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso to return to the regional bloc.

The chairman of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff and the Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, made the appeal yesterday while leading the defence chiefs on a visit to the National Coordinator of the Counter-terrorism Centre, Maj. Gen. Adamu Laka, in Abuja.

The regional defence chiefs said their return was necessary to defeat the insecurity ravaging the West Africa region, especially insurgency.

General Musa stated that efforts were ongoing on their part to ensure that the three countries were back to ECOWAS, adding that all necessary efforts must be made to curtail insecurity in West Africa.

He said, “For us, we feel without security, there can’t be progress. And the threats we are facing, especially on insurgency, are high, and we think it’s very, very important that we need to 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’re making all efforts to ensure that they come back to the fold because we know even they, on their own, they cannot withstand this. And we know the relevance that if they fall, it will also drag us down.”

The three Sahel states’ insistence that they would not return to membership of the regional body has dealt a major blow to regional efforts at combating the spiralling insecurity and has also opened the Sahel to global geopolitical feuds, triggering diplomatic standoffs.

Beyond the security implications for the three states, ECOWAS member-states face greater threats to security without collaborative efforts from the Sahel, which occupies a major geographical space that would act as a natural buffer against insurgents.

The CDS said the insurgency in the region was spreading wide and fast and urged the ECOWAS Defence Chiefs to leave no stone unturned to curb the menace.

Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, in a meeting with ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff on Friday in Abuja, said ECOWAS would continue to persuade the military leaders of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso to return their nations to the fold.

“It is in our hearts to make sure that security is enhanced and that constitutional government is defended and promoted in our region.

“It has been a challenging tenure for me since three members indicated their exit. We will work hard to persuade them to return, whichever way.

“No one man is smarter than the group of heads that is here. We will do everything to offer a hand of friendship to them and give them reasons to come back to us,” the President in a statement by Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale said.

Regional political analysts say ECOWAS’s hasty decision on sanctions and threat of military intervention, against its own rules of engagement, set off a chain of events that exasperated an already tense security situation in the sub region and it would take time to ease current tensions.

Sierra Leonean President, Julius Maada Bio ‘s visit to Burkina Faso is seen as part of extensive efforts to resolve the diplomatic stalemate.