The ECOWAS Commission is organizing the 42nd Ordinary Meeting of the Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CCDS) in Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria from 7 to 9 August 2024. This Meeting is being organized against backdrop of rising incidents of activities of Terrorist Armed Groups (TAGs) and Violent Extremist Groups (VEGs), Transnational Organized Crimes (TOCs) as well as cyber miss-information and disinformation that continued to undermine peace and security in the Region. Likewise, the Central Sahel has remained the epicenter of TAGs and VEGs while the littoral Member States are grappling with pressure from terrorists advancing towards the Atlantic.with the pres-sure of terrorists push towards the Atlantic.
The Meeting will deliberate on the general security situation in the ECOWAS Region parti-cularly the growing menace of terrorism in the Region.
Specific objectives of the Meeting include the consideration and adoption of the CONOPS of the ECOWAS Security Support Mission in Sierra Leone, update on activation of the ECOWAS Standby Force to fight terrorism, update on the development of the ECOWAS Logistics Depot, Rotation of Staff Officers of ECOWAS Peace Support Operations Division and ECOWAS Standby Force.
During the opening ceremony,The Minister of Defence, Mr.Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, has called on the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff to strengthen their security cooperation to enhance their defence capabilities against any security threat. He encouraged open dialogue, shared expertise, and collaborative solutions to strengthen security cooperation and enhance regional defence capabilities.
Also speaking during the opening ceremony , The Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security,Amb. ECOWAS, Abdel-Fatau Musah, PhD said the second meeting was implemented as a result of the actual political development that occurred in the region.” According to him, the convening of this ordinary session has therefore become important as it will allow them to review the evolving security environment with the view to reposi-tion the returned defense architecture and booster to adequately respond to the immedi-ate needs looking forward to the agenda on peace and Security in West Africa regions.
The Chief of Defence Staff of Nigeria, General Christopher Musa, Chairman of the occa-sion, has affirmed the Armed Forces’ unwavering commitment to ensuring security and upholding democratic governance in the West African region. Accoording to him “the se-curity challenges in the nations and regions posed a threat which includes terrorism, or-ganized crime, violent and recently unconfirmed over government.”
The Minister of Interior, Mr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, welcomed the meeting and wished suc-cessful sessions to all participants from member states.
Further, Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Yusuf Tuga said “the meeting is a further testament of their collective and rescue commitment to secure security and stability of our region, the role of the ECOWAS staff cannot be overstated, as they develop emergen-cy strategies and coordinate regional security and so on, deep stability and effective re-sponses to embodied threats in these kinds of rapidly evolving challenges, the military knowledge and Strategic Foresight are crucial.”
