Connect with us

News

Touray Insists Military Rule Has Led to Increase Terrorism, Insecurity in West Africa

Published

on

Touray Insists Military Rule Has Led to Increase Terrorism, Insecurity in West Africa

By: Michael Mike

The President of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Omar Touray has insisted that recent cases of military rule in the region have led to worsening insecurity and exposure of terrorism.

Touray also warned that the growing military rule poses existential threat to the region, urging that there must be no weak link if ECOWAS must prevail.

Delivering a welcome address at the 51st Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council at Ministerial Level in Abuja on Wednesday, Touray said: “On the political front, the transition roadmaps and timetables agreed with the transition authorities in Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso for a rapid and peaceful restoration of constitutional order have been implemented at varied paces amid worsening security situations. The attempted coup d’état in Niger has further distracted attention from the support to these transition processes as the transition countries seek to forge a solidarity with the military authorities in the Republic of Niger, thereby creating an impression of a divide between them and ECOWAS.”

He noted that: “These military coups are not only based on fake narrative and false justifications; they are also a driver of insecurity in the region. In a statement at the recently concluded Saudi Africa summit, this is the warning that President Tinubu had to sound :

“Do not be hoodwinked by romantic notions of military takeovers; they end up pointing their guns at each other, trying to control the capital cities and leave the border areas to the terrorists. For those who may still not be aware, this poses an existential threat and there must be no weak links in ECOWAS if we are to prevail.”

He said: “To drive home the gravity of the insecurity to which military coups contribute, let us look at some data:

“Victims of insecurity – those killed, maimed, and displaced and those who have lost livelihoods and educational opportunities – are the subject of conflicting figures. Yet all the figures are indicative of the pain and suffering that insecurity continues to inflict on the people.

“For example, from January 1st to October 22, 2023, 1503 incidents of terrorist attacks were recorded in Burkina Faso; 1044 in Mali; 376 in Niger 166 since the coup).

“These incidents have resulted in several fatalities: 6811 in Burkina Faso, 2889 in Mali: 768 in Niger (557 since the Coup). In addition to the unbearable toll on human lives, insecurity continues to have dire humanitarian consequences. In just Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, a total of 4.8 million people face food insecurity, 2.4 million people are internally-displaced and close to 9000 schools remain closed.

“A disaggregation of the data shows that Burkina Faso has the highest number of food-insecure people – close to 2.2 million; followed by Niger with 1.9 million and Mali about 800 000. Burkina Faso also accounts for the largest number of internally displaced people – about 2 million; while Mali and Niger each have close to half a million displaced persons. The number of schools closed stands at 6000 in Burkina Faso, 1700 in Mali and 1000 in Niger. to the claims of the military authorities, the incidences of terror attacks have been on the increase with attendant humanitarian consequences.

“From January to 30th November, the number of terrorist attacks in Burkina was 1256, in Mali-1032 and in Niger 391. The figures in terms of casualties were 4788 in Burkina Faso; 2174 in Mali and 606 in Niger.”

He noted that the overall peace and security environment, from the Sahel region through the Lake Chad Basin and beyond remains a matter of concern, lamenting that: “Terrorists and armed groups continue to hold sway in Central Sahel and the northern parts of some coastal states. Indeed, it is evident that terrorism and unconstitutional political practices have remained the major security threat in the region that must be frontally addressed.”

He however pledged that the region would continue “to make efforts for a quick return to constitutional order in these Member States” adding that “as part of our humanitarian response, the Commission is taking several significant steps to increase its intervention assistance, including the deployment of some funds from the Counterterrorism Fund to provide for basic education to conflict-affected children, livelihood support, and resilience building.”

In his opening address, the Chairman of the Mediation and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar said the meeting availed the region ministers the opportunity to exhaustively discuss its collective existential challenges, and to devise strategies to tackle these emerging threats for the overall well-being of their community citizens.

“It is through these discussions that we can effectively shape the policies for our collective response, ensuring comprehensive and coordinated actions that align with the needs and aspirations of our Member States,” Tuggar noted.

Touray Insists Military Rule Has Led to Increase Terrorism, Insecurity in West Africa

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

News

Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised

Published

on

Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised

By: Zagazola Makama

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), under the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), conducted a successful Air Interdiction (AI) mission at a terrorists’ hideout in the Southern Tumbuns general area in the Lake Chad of Borno, killing scores of the terrorists.

Intelligent sources told Zagazola Makama that the precision air strike, which took place at about 2100 hours on 5 May 2025, targeted a major terrorists’ concentration camp located in the Tumbuma Baba axis of Lake Chad.

The sources said that the offensive was in continuation of a decisive Operation KALACHEN WUTA II, aimed at denying terrorists the freedom to execute large-scale attacks during the Eid el-Kabir period.

The sources said that Intelligence and Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) reports confirmed that several terrorists were neutralised during the strike, and key logistics under heavy foliage were destroyed.

The sources said that the strikes followed credible intelligence on planned coordinated attacks by the insurgents before, during, and after the Eid festivities. The mission was meticulously planned and executed to forestall such threats and sustain pressure on terrorist elements operating in the Lake Chad fringes.

“We observed significant secondary explosions, indicating the presence of arms and fuel storage. Multiple terrorists were seen fleeing the area, while several others were eliminated during the strike,” the source said.

The sources said efforts are ongoing to gather further feedback, as well as to assess the operational impact of the interdiction.

He added that preliminary signs suggest a high level of disarray and panic within the terrorists’ ranks, with reports of attempted regrouping under surveillance.

Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised

Continue Reading

News

Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani

Published

on

Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani

By: Zagazola Makama

The Nigerian Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai have executed a coordinated strike on a major terrorist enclave located at Maisani in the Timbuktu Triangle general area of Borno State, killing several ISWAP terrorists.

Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that the air interdiction mission conducted on May 4, 2025, at approximately 1800 hours, was informed by credible intelligence and sustained surveillance, targeted terrorists’ structures cleverly concealed and camouflaged under thick shrubs in the area.

The sources said that using advanced platforms, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) conducted a focused Air Interdiction (AI) mission, resulting in the destruction of the identified enemy hideouts and the neutralisation of an unconfirmed number of insurgent fighters.

According to the sources, Post-strike Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) obtained from our Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms confirmed that the airstrike achieved its intended objectives, dealing a significant blow to terrorists.

Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani

Continue Reading

News

Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting

Published

on

Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting

By: Michael Mike

As the world marks the 2025 Environment Day, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has appealed to the World Bank for support on capacity building, data and in addressing the challenges poised by Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) in the country.

Head of Department, National Accounts Energy and Environment at the NBS, Dr. Baba Madu made the appeal at the 2025 Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) Conference on Thursday in Abuja with support from the World Bank in. collaboration with the NBS and the Federal Ministry of Environment.

Madu while noting that the NCA was a new area Nigeria must exploit to further boost the nation’s economy, said for Nigeria to grow and be at par with other developed nations, there was need to account for her natural resources.

He said: “NCA has been tasked with the crucial role of integrating natural capital into economic measurement. It is impossible to measure the economy accurately without accounting for natural resources. Issues such as environmental degradation, afforestation, desertification, and climate change all directly impact productivity.

“Productivity in turn, influences output—one of the core components of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). These environmental factors must be reflected across all economic activity sectors to present a more accurate picture of national output.”

While stating that Nigeria currently has data on NCA in Nigeria, the NBS official however raised concerns over the huge data gap from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the environment sector.

He said: “We are not doing badly but we need to improve on what we are doing. In terms of data sources, I can tell you there’s a big gap because these are new areas needed to be exploited.”

Programme Leader on Sustainable Development at the World Bank, Vina Vutukuru, said there was need to jointly
explore the vital role of national accounting in national development plans and to brainstorm on how Nigeria could institutionalize it.

He said: “Establishing the national capital accounting as part of the national account system will allow us to measure the economic value of ecosystem services such as clean air, water and biodiversity which are essential for our well-being and economic prosperity.”

Vutukuru commended Nigeria for having “very bold ambitions” as far as responding to climate change was concerned saying, “That shows the commitment of the policy makers here towards the issue of climate.

“But I think to back up that aspiration and the aggressive goals that Nigeria has set for itself, the foundational thing for those goals to materialize those objectives to come true is a very strong natural account system.”

Head of Media, National Council on Climate Change Secretariat (NCCCS), Chioma Azie who represented her Director General, Dr. Nkiruka Maduekwe at the event, described Nigeria as a very ambitious country, stressing that natural resources was instrumental to achieving all the objective of climate action.

She said: “Technology, policy reforms, behavioral changes has a role to play but natural resources is very key because they’re underpinning the mitigation and adaptation for climate action.

“If you look at Nigeria’s NDC, the NCA is an avenue to provide raw materials that we could use to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies.

“If you look at what we have done in terms of this NDC in 2020.which is the second leg of the NDC, we identified a lot of mitigation activities within this mentioned sectors of ours. In agricultural sector we talked about smart agriculture. What is smart agriculture without natural resources?

“We talked about biomass, what is biomass without natural resources? We also spoke about land use changes and that is natural resources, we talk about natural solutions and we talked about also afforestation, reafforestation. Those are mitigation potentials of our NDC. So, we cannot achieve our NDC without SEEA.

“What you cannot be able to account for is recorded as if it is not done so if we know what is existing in terms of the reservoirs we have for natural resources, it can inform the scope of the mitigation activities we’re going to be imputing in the NDC 3.0,” she said.

Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting

Continue Reading

Trending

Verified by MonsterInsights