ECOWAS to establish migration academy‎ in Nigeria

The Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammad Babandede, has said that the ECOWAS would set up an Migration Academy in Tugga, Kebbi State, to train immigration officers in the sub-region

Babandede disclosed this in Kano at the Passing out Parade of 396 cadets of the 44th Superintendent Basic Course in Kano on 15th June,2019.‎

He said the academy, when established, would help in training officers ‎and border security personnel within the sub-region.

Babandede said the institution would also strengthen collaboration between immigration officers and border security personnel within the sub-region.

He also said that the academy ‎would help officers to learn French to enhance regional corporation and strengthen the capacity of the personnel.
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‎He said that NIS gathered 30 professors at the Command and Staff College, Sokoto, to develop new and responsive training curricula for the training institutions.

The comptroller said the service would intensify efforts at the ongoing reforms on operational activities and staff welfare.‎

He urged them to be hardworking, dedicated, disciplined and be good ambassadors of the service.

In her remark, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Georgina Ehuriah, said the event represented a sincere demonstration of government commitment to strengthen national security architecture and gainful employment.

“As you pass out from this institution ‎today, I enjoin you to remain guided by the training you have received as well as by the agencies rules of engagement in your conduct,” she said.

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The Comptroller-General, Ghana Immigration, Mr. Kwame Takyi, ssid Ghana would continue to support the academy, adding that it was ready to partner other ECOWAS heads to make the dream a reality.

The commandant of the training school, ‎Mr Richard Adegoke, thanked the Babandede for providing an enabling environment for the cadets.

He urged the graduates to uphold and apply the requisite knowledge and good values they had imbibed during their training as good ambassadors of the school.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that those who attended the event include, senators, representative of the Emir of Kano and heads of all security agencies in the state.

source: ecowas.int

Obasanjo, Kufuor urge AU, ECOWAS to intervene in Benin…

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his Ghanaian counterpart, Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor, yesterday tasked the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to immediately act on the political situation in Republic of Benin.

According to a statement, signed by the former presidents in Abeokuta and made available by Obasanjo’s Special Assistant (Media), Kehinde Akinyemi, the two elder statesmen stressed an urgent need for intervention in the “festering” political situation in that country before it escalates.

The statement read in part: “In the follow up to the parliamentary election that took place on April 28, 2019, which was considered to be exclusive for not accommodating the opposition parties in the electoral process, there is a general feeling of violation of the individual and collective liberties which have invariably culminated into the restriction currently imposed on former President Boni Yayi and some other opposition leaders.”

Obasanjo and Kufuor, according to the statement, insisted that contrary to the general principle, which stipulates that elections should be inclusive of all political stakeholders to ensure fairness, justice and equity, the prevailing situation in Benin Republic appears not to be in line with the aforementioned.

“The crisis in Republic of Benin calls for urgent action by ECOWAS and African Union (AU) to avert the escalation of the festering political unrest. All stakeholders should be carried along in the electoral process,” the leaders said.

They, therefore, recommended a strong delegation to appeal to President Talon to release his immediate predecessor who needs medical attention abroad.

Source: ecowas.int

Lasun’s threat to sue Lo brews crisis in ECOWAS…

Crisis looms in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) parliament, as the leader of the Nigerian delegation, Yusuf Lasun, threatens to drag the speaker, Moustapha Lo, to court for allegedly defaming his character.

Lasun, the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, maintained that the ECOWAS speaker must be up to some mischief for accusing him of attempting to collect salaries without attending plenary.

Disclosing that he was out of the country for two weeks, the leader of the Nigerian delegation said it was embarrassing that the ECOWAS speaker could make such ‘unparliamentary’ remarks about him at plenary.

“Honestly, I do not know his intentions for calling my name, threatening that he would not pay any delegate from Nigeria that failed to attend the session.

“From all indications, there is foul play somewhere because before I travelled to Saudi Arabia, I attended the session; but when I saw the way he was conducting himself, I stopped attending. Maybe some people in the secretariat or the speaker himself is playing games.

“Since I stopped attending the session, there was no link with them. I neither demanded nor received any payment from ECOWAS,” he noted through his media aide, Wole Oladimeji.

Lasun, who is the first deputy speaker of the ECOWAS parliament, claimed that he met the ECOWAS secretary-general, John Azumah on this issue.

He quoted the ECOWAS scribe as saying: “What we did was just a financial procedure by capturing all the lawmakers and submitting to the office of the speaker. We are civil servants; we cannot comment on the matter. We do not have any opinion on the matter; we left politicians to play their game.”

Consequently, Lasun demanded retraction of the statement credited to the ECOWAS speaker within 12 hours, failing which would force him to take legal action against the ECOWAS secretariat and speaker for defamation of character.

The speaker, during his closing remarks at the ECOWAS session in Abuja last Friday, reportedly accused Lasun of receiving full payment of allowance without attending plenary, adding: “Lasun, who never came, is being given full payment and he is never here, so I blocked that payment.”

Consensus on “ECO” as the name for the ECOWAS…

The experts and members of the Ministerial Committee on the Single Currency Programme of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) meeting in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire on 20th June,2019 have agreed on the currency’s name and symbol.Although a consensus was reached on having “ECO” as the name for the ECOWAS single currency, they were however divided on the currency’s symbol.

They also considered other monetary issues particularly the status of economic convergence, exchange regime, monetary policy framework, Central Bank model and implementation of mechanisms relating to the Special Fund for Development of the currency’s road map.
Regarding the legal texts governing the institutional framework of the balance of payments statistics in the ECOWAS region, the West African Monetary Agency (WAMA) was advised to send the documents again to the Central Banks prior to submitting them to the ECOWAS Commission for further consideration.

While discussing the ECOWAS 2018 Macro-economic Convergence Report, members of the Ministerial Committee focused their discussions on Member States’ poor performance on compliance with the convergence criteria. The participants in the Abidjan meeting also addressed other issues such as the vulnerability of the West African economies to external shocks which restrains Member States efforts to meet the convergence criteria. They also made recommendations on the development of a regional strategy to mitigate external shocks for sustained compliance with the criteria.

During the opening of the Ministerial Committee Meeting, the ECOWAS Commission’s President, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou expressed gratitude to the Ministers of Finance of Member States in attendance for their fruitful contributions to the proceedings, as well as the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa for its financial and technical support to the regional organisation for the completion of the studies which made it possible to hold the meeting.

Mr Brou stated that the Abidjan ministerial meeting is a singular development in the process leading to the realisation of one of the most important projects initiated by ECOWAS founding fathers, which is monetary integration leading to the creation of the common single currency.

Taking the floor, the Ivoirian Minister of Economy and Finance, Adama Koné urged ECOWAS Member States to make efforts to address the remaining obstacles to the creation of the currency.
He expressed conviction that the ministerial committee meeting will be the springboard for the completion of the ECOWAS single currency, a process that had commenced more than three decades ago.

Apart from Ministers of Finance of the fifteen (15) Member States of the regional organisation, the Presidents of the ECOWAS Commission and West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), Governors of ECOWAS Central Banks, Commissioner for Macro-economic Policy and Economic Research, Dr Koffi Konadu Apraku, as well as the Directors General of WAMA and the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) also attended the Abidjan ministerial meeting.

Source: ecowas.int

ECOWAS Defense Chiefs call for collaboration and intelligence sharing…

The Committee of Chiefs of Defense Staff (CCDS) of Member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have reiterated their resolve to curb the menace of terrorism by recommending a special summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government to address it and through the creation of a forum to share intelligence amongst Member States.

This was expressed by the new Chairman of the committee General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin who assumed the role during the 39th Ordinary meeting of CCDS which ended on 20th June 2019 in Abuja, Nigeria.

The General stated that in order to combat terrorism, there is need for Member States to intensify intelligence gathering and joint operations as well as collaborate with stakeholders and partners to ensure peace and security in the region.

The CCDS called for the full implementation of the ECOWAS Counter-Terrorism Strategy in order to streamline all initiatives in the fight against terror in the region. This was as a result of multiplicity of initiatives such as the G-5 Sahel, the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) and the Accra Initiative.

Furthermore, the Committee reviewed the status of the current operations of the ECOWAS Mission in Guinea Bissau (ECOMIB) and the ECOWAS Mission in The Gambia (ECOMIG), their funding and proposed exit strategies.

In addition they deliberated on stockpiles management in the region and the preparation for the ECOWAS Command Post Exercise-JIGUI IV which aims to test the capability of ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF) to conduct strategic and operational level planning for multidimensional operations and to exercise command and control of deployed forces on a simulated ECOWAS/ African Union mandated Peace Support Operation.

Expressing his gratitude at the end of the meeting, the ECOWAS Commission’s Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Rt. General Francis Béhanzin approved of the recommendations made by the participants and tasked the committee and officers to monitor closely the remarkable achievements in their respective regions. He implored the officers of the Defense Committee to translate all recommendations into actions with immediate effect.

On her part the Permanent Secretary of Nigeria’s Ministry of Defense, Nuratu Batagarawa, congratulated the participants on the success of the meeting and expressed her profound appreciation to the Armed Forces and ECOWAS Commission’s President.

She charged the CCDS to implement the recommendations of the meeting in a timely manner at both national and regional levels. “Security challenges are multifaceted and so all hands must be on deck towards achieving regional security”, she said.

On the margins of the 39th Ordinary session of the CCDS meeting, a Sub-Committee of Chiefs of Naval Staff (CNS) and the High Commanders of Gendarmerie (HCG) also met to review and confirm pledges of Member States on staffing of the Multinational Maritime Coordination Centres (MMCC) and the ECOWAS Regional Maritime Security Centre (CRESMAO) as part of efforts to improve maritime security in the region.

Source: ecowas.int

President Buhari: How West Africa can succeed in battle…

President Muhammadu Buhari, on 16th May,2019 , said for countries in the West African sub region to successfully tackle criminalities confronting them, security heads of member states must not only begin to share their experiences but also re-assess as well as harmonise crime control and operations in their respective countries.

This was as he said the vulnerability of the region to criminal activities and other threats to peace and security was as a result of its large borders and proximity to the Sahel.

Speaking in Abuja, through the Minister of Interior, Lt. General Abdulrahman Dambazau, rtd, who represented him at the closing of the 16 Annual General Meeting of West African Police Chiefs Committee, WAPCCO, and Meeting of the Forum of Ministers in charge of Security, he insisted that the battle against crimes can only be won by the collective will of member nations.

To this end, he tasked member nations not only to coordinate their security plans and activities, but also enable law enforcement and other security agencies to contain the trends, regretting that the battle was consuming resources that would have been channeled to other developmental areas..

He said insecurity was being caused by corruption, terrorism, communal clash, kidnap for ransom, organised crimes and others threatening the region`s peace, progress, integration and development.

He spoke further: ”We are aware of other threats to security, such as climate change which brings with it environmental degradation, extreme poverty and poor governance.

“However, as police chiefs, your focus is on security of lives and property in relation to law and order.”

The president, while noting that WAPCCO was a forum that gave the police and other security heads the opportunity for cooperation and collaboration to find answers to the security challenges confronting the region, expressed happiness that the meeting came at the right time.

The meeting, he said, came when a lot of synergy was needed among ECOWAS member-states in the fight against crime and criminality in the West African Sub-region.

According to him, ”We have led vigorous military campaigns against the terrorists by re-organising the multinational joint task force which had dislodged them.”

“Working with our regional and international allies, we have denied them safe haven within and around the sub-region.

“We have also strengthened legislation against terrorism and corruption by equipping the ant-graft agencies in the country to be able to carry out their mandates,“ he added.

“The challenges of insecurity posed by corruption, terrorism, communal clashes, herders-farmers conflict, trafficking in drugs and humans, kidnapping for ransom, armed banditry, proliferation of arms and light weapons, money laundering and other transnational organised crimes, are some of the vices threatening regional peace, progress, and development.

“Of course, we are aware of other threats to security, such as climate change – which brings with it environmental degradation – extreme poverty.

“However, as police chiefs, your focus is on security of lives and properties, in relation to law and order.

“The porosity of our territorial borders, and proximity to the…, also makes us vulnerable to all sorts of illegal criminal activities, and other threats to peace and security in the Sub-region.

“The fight against crime and criminality is vast and resource-consuming, transcending national, regional and global levels.”

He regretted that the activities of Boko Haram, had created humanitarian crisis for countries within the Lake Chad axis, with the displacement of people from their locations.

“The activities of the Boko Haram Terrorists affecting Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin countries such as Chad and Cameroon in Central Africa, have created new humanitarian problems, with the displacement of people from their communities, posing serious security threats within the region”, he further said.

Speaking further, he said that in the last four years of his administration, concerted effort had been made in degrading the potency of Boko Haram.

Also within the period, the President maintained that corruption had been fought with drastic measures.

One of such measures, the President disclosed, was through the strengthening of legislation.

His words: “Nigeria, in the last four years, has taken drastic measures and spared no efforts in our resolve to fight corruption, and our quest to defeat Boko Haram.

“We have led vigorous military campaigns against the terrorists, by reorganising the Multinational Joint Task Force, which has dislodged them.

“Working with our regional and international partners, we have denied them safe haven within and around the Sub-region.

“We have also strengthened legislation against terrorism and corruption, while (empowering) the anti-graft agencies to be able to carry out their mandates.

“These measures have yielded much dividend in reducing financial Crimes and acts of terrorism in such issues involving the rate by which they occur.”

On the meeting, Buhari said: “WAPCCO is, therefore, a forum that affords our police and security chiefs the opportunity for cooperation and collaboration, with the aim of proffering solutions to the security challenges confronting the region.

“I, therefore, urge you to share your experiences, reassess and harmonise crime control strategies and operations in our various countries, such that with the established, strong and virile institutions, there will ensure that the fight against crime and criminality is more effective and efficient, and provides security of lives and properties to our people, while striking a balance with ECOWAS protocol of free movement of goods, persons and services.

“This can only be achieved through the collective will and efforts of all member-states”.

He went further to state thus: “”It’s pertinent to note that, resolutions in this meeting will become a standard measure of your performances, which in turn, will help in safeguarding our various nascent democracies.

“I also have no doubt that the knowledge you gathered here, will not only help reduce incidences of crime and criminality, but enhance your competences and capacities to successfully handle and resolve such incidences, when they occur”.

Source: NAN

ECOWAS members express displeasure over political situation in Benin

Members of the ECOWAS Parliament has expressed displeasure in the political situation in Benin following the presentation of the Country Report from the Beninese delegation of the parliament.

The members expressed their displeasure during the ongoing ordinary session of the parliament in Abuja.

Members said that the stable and vibrant political scene of Benin had long made it a model for democracy in the region.

However, there were reports of violence in the course of the country’s parliamentary elections held on April 28 which caught the attention of civil society and rights groups inside and outside Benin.

Amnesty International, ahead of the elections, stated that the wave of arbitrary arrests of political activists and journalists, and the crackdown on peaceful protests, had reached an alarming level.

The country had, reportedly, been undergoing political reforms designed to deepen the democratic practice in the nation.

Members said the reforms, or the revised electoral rules, led to a reduction of parties from more than 250 to just two that took part in the election, and both aligned with President Patrice Talon.

The representative of the Beninese delegation, Mr Youssoufou Nouhoume, however, explained that out of the many parties that applied for registration, only a few were successful both at the Ministry of Interior and the National Electoral Commission.

“There were two parties that took part in the elections with the new law, out of 259 parties 10 parties registered with the Ministry of Interior and out of these 10, six met the requirements and applied to contest. All our constitutional and democratic institutions are working as they ought to and all parties that could not meet the requirements approached the court so this is a phase we are not used to.We have problems but not enough to question the law. I suggest that the ECOWAS Parliament should send a delegation to Benin and find out the truth on what really transpired.”

Furthermore, the members of parliament argued on whether or not to adopt the Country Report presented by Benin.

In his reaction, Mr Edwin Snowe representing Liberia proposed that the parliament send a fact-finding mission to Benin and the findings reported to the ECOWAS Parliament.

“The situation in Benin is grave that where the Executive arm of government begin to crack down on Members of Parliament that represent the direct interest of the people you know it is even more serious.

“I suggest we do not adopt the Benin report and that we send a fact-finding mission to come back and report to this parliament so that appropriate resolution can be taken to protect democracy in Benin and our region.”

Mr Mahama Ayariga representing Ghana, nevertheless, proposed that the parliamentarians be mindful of the procedures of the parliament.

“We can raise objections about a Country Report on the grounds that we think the report is incomplete, inadequate but we also have an opportunity to fill in gaps. When the report was read, we all asked questions so that the gaps that existed in the report would be filled in by the delegation from that country, so they have answered the questions and attempted to fill in the gaps.

“Let us channel our issues through the right procedure otherwise, this house will cease its reputation as a parliament.”

Ayariga appealed with members of the parliament to adopt the report and move the motion to set up a group to investigate in that country and report back to the parliament.

He also suggested that a resolution condemning what happened in that country be passed and have it communicated to the country’s leadership.

Source: NAN

Massive protest rocks Abuja over harassment of ‘sex workers’

Thousands of women have protested the illegal arrest and parade of some women suspected to be sex workers by the police in Abuja.

The protesters, clad in black and red, trekked from the Eagle Square to the Federal Capital Development Authority carrying placards with inscriptions like ‘Sex for bail is rape’ ‘My body my right’; ‘Us today, you tomorrow.’ Others were ‘Don’t rape us Protect us’; ‘Respect my existence or expect my resistance’; ‘Being a woman is not a crime.’

One of the protesters, Dorothy Njamenze, called on the Federal Government to ensure that some of the women arrested at Maitama police should be respected. Njamenze who said she was a victim of rape called on relevant authorities to protect the rights of women, adding that the rights of women should be protected “We are human beings, we cannot continue to tolerate police brutality on women. Our rights should be protected. They should implement ECOWAS judgement on women rights.”

However, their agitations met a brick wall as police barricaded the entrance of the FCDA. It didn’t deter them as they spent quality time at FCDA calling on the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mohammad Bello, to address them.

Source:NAN

President Buhari tasks ECOWAS security chiefs on crime control…

President Muhammadu Buhari has charged ECOWAS security chiefs to share their experiences, re-assess and harmonise crime control and operations in their various countries.

Buhari gave the charge at the closing of the 16 Annual General Meeting of West African Police Chiefs Committee (WAPCCO) and Meeting of the Forum of Ministers in charge of Security on 16th May,2019 in Abuja.

He was represented by the Minister of Interior, retired Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau.

He said that insecurity posed by corruption, terrorism, communal clashes, kidnap for ransom, organised crimes among others, were some vices threatening the region`s peace, progress, integration and development.

“We are aware of other threats to security such as climate change which brings with it environmental degradation, extreme poverty and poor governance. However, as police chiefs, your focus is on security of lives and property in relation to law and order” he said.

He attributed the vulnerability of the region to criminal activities and other threats to peace and security to the vast borders and proximity to the Sahel.

He said that it was imperative for member-states to coordinate their security plans and activities, to enable law enforcement and other security agencies to contain and prevent these vices.

Buhari noted that the fight against crimes and criminality was vast and resource consuming transcending national, regional and global levels.

He said that WAPCCO was a forum that affords the police and security chiefs the opportunity for cooperation and collaboration proffer solutions to the security challenges confronting the region.

The president said that the fight against crime and criminality could only be achieved through the collective will and efforts of member-states.He said that resolutions in the meeting would become the standard measure of performances of the participants.

“It is pertinent to note that, resolutions in the meeting would become the standard measure of your performances which in turn would help in safeguarding our nascent democracies.

“The knowledge they garnered here will also enhance your competences and capacities to successfully handle and resolve such incidences when they occur.

He said the meeting came when a lot of synergy was needed among ECOWAS member-states in the fight against crime and criminality in the West African Sub-region.

Buhari said the activities of the Boko Haram terrorists affecting Nigeria and the Lake Chad basin countries like Chad and Cameroun in central Africa, had created new humanitarian problems serious security threat within the region.

“We have also strengthened legislation against terrorism and corruption by equipping the ant-graft agencies in the country to be able to carry out their mandates,“he said.

He said that the measures adopted have yielded much dividends in reducing financial crimes and acts of terrorism in the country.

On his part, the President of ECOWAS Commission, Mr Jean-Claude Brou,said that the current security challenges in the sub-region required urgent attention.

He was represented by ECOWAS Commissioner in charge of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Gen. Francis Behanzin.

Brou said that results could be achieved in the fight against crimes and criminality if it was handled by members states with seriousness.

He noted that the security situation in the region was precarious due to terrorism, drug trafficking, arms proliferation and smuggling among others.

The president attributed insecurity in the sub-region to poverty, corruption and socio-political problems.

He called on member-states to collaborate with ECOWAS to have the WAPCCO meeting annually as against the irregular.

Also speaking, Dambazau, said that the region was faced with numerous regional and international security challenges.

Dambazau, who was represented by an official of the ministry, Mrs Georgina Ehuriah, charged the security ministers to provide lasting solutions to tackle them by providing leadership and formulating policies.

He said that all over the world, crime and criminality was assuming new and unimaginable dimensions that no country can effectively fight it without the collaboration of another.

Countries in attendance were Bukina Faso, Cape Verde, Benin Republic, Cote I`Voire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Nigeria.

The three-day meeting is aimed at addressing transnational crimes, especially terrorism, violent extremism, kidnapping, illicit circulation of small arms and light weapons, human trafficking, maritime security, herders and farmers’ conflict among others.

Source: NAN

ECOWAS parliament condoles with Burkina Faso over church attack

The ECOWAS Parliament has condoled with Burkina Faso over the attack on a Catholic church, which left six people dead.

Its Second Deputy Speaker, Aminata Toungara, expressed the condolence at the parliament’s ongoing ordinary session in Abuja.

According to reports, the victims – a priest and five churchgoers – were killed by gunmen during mass at about 9am in the town of Dablo.

The attackers, between 20 and 30 years of age, also set fire to the church, several shops, and a small café.

Security source said that the attackers also went to the local health centre and looted it.

Mrs Toungara prayed that the perpetrators of the crime would be exposed and brought to justice.

The 2019 ordinary session of the parliament is considering country reports and has expressed concerns over issues of security situation in some countries in region.

The parliament has also proposed a regional defence force that would assist in the enforcement of security in member states.

Source: NAN