The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has approved the disbursement of emergency funds to five member states as part of renewed efforts to combat terrorism and rising insecurity across the region.
The decision was taken at the 68th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, held on Sunday in Abuja.
In a communiqué issued after the summit, the regional bloc directed the ECOWAS Commission to urgently release $2.85 million each to Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo.
The funds, according to the communiqué, are to be drawn from the ECOWAS Regional Security Fund and are intended to support national and regional counterterrorism operations in countries facing growing security threats.
The authority also ordered the immediate operationalisation of the ECOWAS regional counterterrorism brigade, in line with funding arrangements proposed by the bloc’s ministers of finance and defence.
To fast-track the process, the Commission was instructed to convene urgent meetings of the Committee of Chiefs of Intelligence Services and the Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff.
ECOWAS leaders expressed deep concern over the worsening security situation in West Africa, particularly in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, where terrorist groups, insurgents, and bandits continue to carry out attacks, kidnappings, and acts of sabotage.
The bloc disclosed that about six million people across the region have been affected by mass displacement and severe humanitarian crises linked to the violence.
The authority condemned recent abductions of schoolchildren in northern Nigeria and commended President Bola Tinubu for efforts that led to their release.
