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ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Abdel-Fatau Musah
Experts from the Economic Community of West African States on Monday held a meeting in Abuja to finalise policies for the regional standby force’s logistics depot.
The depot, located in Lungi, Sierra Leone, is expected to be inaugurated later this year.
The ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, stated that the increasing terrorism, violent extremism, and political instability in the region have underscored the urgent need for a fully operational logistics depot.
Musah, represented by the Acting Head of Peace Support Operations at ECOWAS, Sanni Mohammed, explained that the depot would house the equipment needed for peace support operations and counterterrorism efforts.
He said, “The ECOWAS Commission has injected substantial resources towards the construction as well as the operationalisation of the depot, and it remains a critical flagship project for ECOWAS region’s peace support operations infrastructure.
“The increased acts of terrorism, violent extremism, and political instability being experienced in a number of our countries, with heavy and dire consequences, are a clear testament to the urgent need for a well-resourced logistics strategy with a fully functional and operational and static depot.”
The ECOWAS Commission has invested significant resources in the construction and operationalisation of the depot, viewing it as a key infrastructure project for regional peace support operations.
The commissioner emphasised that the depot’s strategic location in Lungi, a coastal area, would make it easy to ship and evacuate equipment by land, air, or sea.
He noted that the ECOWAS standby force, which is already fully activated, is involved in peace support missions in Guinea-Bissau and Gambia.
Musah added that the standby force would soon be mobilised for counterterrorism efforts, with troops from member states ready to be deployed.
The force, he said, requires sufficient resources, with member states working to mobilise internal resources for its operations, the commissioner added.
Air Commodore Sampson Eyekosi, who chaired the meeting, clarified that the ECOWAS standby force does not replace the Multinational Joint Task Force but operates alongside other security efforts to maintain peace and security in the region.
Eyekosi noted that the size of the force would depend on the nature of the security threat and that member states would deploy forces based on the collective effort and the situation at hand.
He further stressed that effective Peace Support Operations in the region require well-structured logistics procedures.
He emphasised the importance of ensuring the ECOWAS Logistics Depot at Lungi is fully operational to support ongoing and future peace missions.
“You cannot work in isolation. It’s not taking any role. We all work together for the attainment of peace and security in the region.
“It is not fixed. The threat determines how big the force will be. But units in member states are placed on alert based on what is pledged to the collective effort. And they are trained together, they are prepared, they are deployed as the situation requires.
“As we all know, it is imperative that the conduct of Peace Support Operations in the ECOWAS region requires to be properly guided by a well thought out and proven logistics procedures and processes.
“Likewise, the need to look closely at the nitty-gritty of all essentials that is required to be in place to ensure that the ECOWAS Logistic Depot at Lungi, Sierra Leone becomes functional and attains full operational capability in the shortest possible time,” Eyekosi noted.
