The Nigerian government has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthen regional security and support collective efforts to combat terrorism across the West African sub-region.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume, stated this in Abuja at a country-level engagement on regional security and strengthening the civilian dimension of the ECOWAS Standby Force.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Special Duties, Aminu Sani, the SGF said terrorism, violent extremism and organised armed banditry remain major threats to peace, development and democratic governance across West Africa.
Akume stressed that while the military component of the ECOWAS Standby Force remains critical to regional security, lasting peace cannot be achieved through military action alone.
He called for more emphasis on the civilian component of the regional force to address the root causes of conflicts and prevent their escalation.
The civilian component was also highlighted at the forum with stronger call for strengthening early warning and conflict prevention mechanisms, humanitarian coordination, community engagement and post-conflict stabilisation.
Participants at the engagement also called for stronger intelligence sharing, joint training, improved cross-border coordination and community-based border security stressing that a whole-of-society approach remains essential to building sustainable peace and security across the region.
The engagement, convened by the Centre for Civil-Military Cooperation, brought together senior military commanders and representatives of security institutions from across the region, government officials from regional blocs, international partners, and other key stakeholders.
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(Editor: Ebuwa Omo-Osagie)
