Officials from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have announced an ambitious plan to establish a regional counter-terrorism force with an estimated budget of $2.4 billion.
Abdel-Fatau Musah,the ECOWAS commissioner, made the disclosure at a three-day meeting of the bloc’s training centres of excellence in Abuja, Nigeria.
In the fight against terrorism across West Africa, ECOWAS identified three training centres of excellence to spearhead the establishment of a regional standby counter-terrorism force. The centres include the National Defence College of Nigeria, the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre of Ghana, and the Ecole de Maintien de la Paix Alioune Blondin Beye of Mali.
Speaking on the proposal, Musah said the bloc has resolved to establish the standby force. He stated further; “This is the decision, and in the coming weeks, ECOWAS has already with the Chief of Defence Staffs, developed operational modalities, the concept of operations and everything for us to aggregate.
“It will be something like an advance rapid reaction force of a battalion that will be able to confront terrorists’ bases.”
The commissioner explained that the heads of states in the region have decided that on the first year, they must raise about 2.4 billion dollars to support the operation of thie force in order to face the terrorists. Musah added that the resolution mandated that member states contribute one billion dollars to commence the operation of the force, adding that ministers of defence and finance from the sub-region will meet to fashion out funding modalities.
Musah also lauded Nigeria’s progress in diminishing the threat of Boko Haram to the extent that they do not pose a sustainable threat to the country’s peace and security
