By Sumaila Ogbaje
The Chiefs of Defence Staff in West Africa on Friday, called for the return of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, made the call when he led other ECOWAS defence chiefs on visit to the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), on Friday in Abuja.
Musa, the Chairman of ECOWAS Committee of Defence Chiefs, said that the return of the three countries to the regional bloc was necessary to defeat the insecurity ravaging the region, especially insurgency.
He said that efforts were ongoing on their part to ensure that the three countries were back, adding that all hands must be on deck to curtail insecurity in West Africa.
“For us, we feel without security, there can’t be progress and the threats we are facing, especially on insurgency, are high.
“We think it is 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 are making all efforts to ensure that they come back to the fold because we know even them, on their own, cannot withstand this.
“We know the relevance that if they fall, it will also drag us down and that is why it is important for us as West Africans to continue to work together,’’ he said.
The CDS appreciated the National Coordinator of NCTC, Maj.-Gen. Adamu Laka, for doing a wonderful job in the nation’s counter-terrorism efforts.
He said the insurgency in the region was spreading wide and fast, urging the Defence Chiefs to leave no stone unturned to curb the menace.
“We are sure that we are going to work together to ensure that there is total peace in our own region.
“I had the privilege of being the theatre commander in the Northeast when this horrendous exercise started, and it started like a joke,’’ he added.
Earlier, the National Coordinator of NCTC said there was a need for cooperation among the West African countries to defeat terrorism.
Laka also said countries in the West African region must share experiences, adding that experience sharing remained one of the critical ways.
He said,”We hope to partner with our brothers in the West African sub-region and the Sahel. They say if your brother’s house is on fire, it can also reach yours.
“So we need to learn from one another. We don’t plan to make this place the only place. We plan to partner with Abidjan.
“While we are experts in the preventive aspects, we are going to partner with all those centres to address the threat of terrorism.
“Once the declaration is passed, we plan to visit your centre in Abidjan.
“We are in the process of talking about how we are going to come together to address this threat that is really stopping development and stopping our people from reaping the dividends of democracy,’’ he said.
Laka said the centre was well equipped to address the threat of terrorism, adding that the centre had put in place state-of-the-art forensic laboratories.
According to him, NCTC has toxicology labs, the fingerprint labs, the DNA labs, the handwriting labs, and so on.
“These are things that will facilitate the threat of terrorism investigation and so on,’’ he added.
NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA