Economic Community of West African States has approved the disbursement of $2.85 million each to Nigeria and four other member countries to strengthen regional efforts against terrorism and violent extremism.
Gatekeepers News reports that the decision was taken at the 68th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government held on Sunday in Abuja.
The beneficiary countries are Nigeria, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo, which have continued to face security threats linked to terrorism, insurgency, and cross-border crimes.
In a communiqué issued after the summit, the regional bloc directed the ECOWAS Commission to urgently release the funds from its regional security pool to support national counterterrorism operations.
The authority also approved immediate steps to operationalise the ECOWAS regional counterterrorism brigade, in line with funding and implementation frameworks earlier proposed by ministers of finance and defence.
As part of the process, the commission was mandated to convene emergency meetings of the committee of chiefs of intelligence services and the committee of chiefs of defence staff to fast-track the activation of the force.
ECOWAS expressed deep concern over the worsening security situation across West Africa, particularly in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, where terrorist attacks, kidnappings, and sabotage operations have continued to displace communities and strain humanitarian systems.
The bloc noted that millions of people across the region have been affected by conflict-related displacement and humanitarian emergencies.
The authority condemned recent attacks and abductions, including the kidnapping of schoolchildren in northern Nigeria, while commending President Bola Tinubu for efforts that led to their release.
It also appealed to the international community, through the African Union and the United Nations Security Council, to provide coordinated support to countries battling terrorism in the region.
ECOWAS further urged sustained engagement with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to ensure continued security cooperation despite political tensions, stressing that regional stability requires collective action.
At the Abuja summit, President Tinubu, represented by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, called on West African leaders to close ranks against terrorism and unconstitutional changes of government, warning that the scale of external and internal threats facing the region demands a united and coordinated response.
