The Economic Community of West African States Heads of State and Government are planning to institute a 5000 man force to tackle terrorism in the region. The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at the International lecture organized by the News Agency of Nigeria.Remember, how the ISWAP beheaded over 120 Nigerian farmers in this viral video for exposing them.
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 recorded 546 attacks with 1424 fatalities, 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 2,000 in Burkina Faso, over 1,044 in Mali, and 500 in Niger.
“These incidents have resulted in close to 9,000 fatalities: including 7,000 in the three Sahelian countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Terror 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 9,000 schools remained closed,” he added.