The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission has said fighting terrorism without attacking the root causes was an exercise in futility.
Angel Network News reports that the Commission, which traced the root cause of terrorism in the West Africa to cases of weak governance, poverty, youth unemployment and human rights abuses, lamented that Boko Haram attacks in the Lake Chad Basin alone in the last 10 years had led to more than 30,000 deaths, with terrorism displacing over three million people in the region.
Speaking at the launch of the Early Warning Study on the Spillover of Violent Extremism to ECOWAS Coastal Member State in Abuja, the Vice President of ECOWAS Commission, Madam Finda Koroma said: “It would be illusionary to fight against terrorism without attacking its root causes, such as bad or in some cases, weak governance, poverty, youth unemployment and human rights abuses.”
She said data from the ECOWAS Alert and Response Network (ECOWARN) showed that the havoc perpetrated by Boko Haram alone had resulted in more than 30,000 deaths, in less than 10 years of subversive activities, in addition to the physical attacks on the populations and the territorial integrity of ECOWAS’ s member states.
She lamented that terrorism has unprecedented humanitarian consequences, stating that to date, more than three million people are displaced.
Koroma added: “After north-east of Nigeria, the Lake Chad Basin, the Sahel, the Northern Part of Mali, the threats escalated in the Liptako-Gourma region; made up of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.
“From the north of Mali and Burkina Faso violent extremist groups conducted attacks in the southern part of these members states.
“Since 2019, the southwestern regions of Burkina Faso have seen an escalation of jihadist presence from JNIM’s Katibat Macina, who are present in the Cascades region and in the forests along the Ivorian border.
“This explains why Côte d’Ivoire saw a major escalation of violent extremism throughout 2020, including its first jihadist attacks since the 2016 Grand Bassam incident. We all remember the Park W Pendjari abduction in Benin.”
She noted that under the instructions of the Heads of States, the ECOWAS Commission has been working to address this multifaceted issue, with the goal to achieve peace and security in the region.
She disclosed that: “With regard to these root causes in the prevention and the fight against terrorism, the ECOWAS Commission has made the “nexus” between security and development its major area of focus.”
She revealed that various strategies and programmes had been put in place to combat terrorism in the region.
Koroma, however, said the fight against terrorism does not rest solely on member states or the ECOWAS Commission, and to this end, “in the joint policy statement, the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government have called on the international community, development partners, relevant international organisations and civil society organisations to coordinate their activities with ECOWAS Commission.”
Also speaking at the event, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama said the impact of the responses on counter-terrorism going on in various areas of operations required terrorists to find climes where they can retreat and recuperate.
He said: “All member states affected must therefore put more efforts to eliminate these conditions that facilitate the activities and movements of terrorist groups.”
Onyeama, who was represented by the Director, Africa Multilateral Affairs, Amb. Ngozi Ukaeje added: “It is evident that the Kinetic approach towards combating terrorism is yielding positive results but that alone cannot provide the total solution. There is need for more emphasis to be placed on non-kinetic approaches to complement the kinetic approach.”
