Dr Omar Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission, has warned that the current surge in terrorism across West Africa and the Sahel region poses an existential threat to the ECOWAS sub-region.

Touray made this known while briefing the UN Security Council on regional counterterrorism cooperation, according to a statement issued by the commission on Friday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was the 10047th UN Security Council meeting on regional counter-terrorism cooperation in West Africa and the Sahel.

The commission’s president warned that terrorists were increasingly waging “economic warfare” by disrupting fuel supplies and trade routes, posing an existential threat to both Sahelian and coastal West African states.

He also highlighted ECOWAS’ ongoing initiatives aimed at rebuilding trust, advancing political dialogue with its exited members Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, and addressing the socio-economic drivers of extremism.

“Dr Touray outlined ECOWAS’ kinetic and non-kinetic measures, including the accelerated operationalisation of the ECOWAS Standby Force.

“President Touray reaffirmed ECOWAS’ commitment to working closely with the UN, AU and all partners to safeguard peace, stability, and resilience across West Africa and the Sahel,” the statement said.

It said that the Security Council also received a briefing from UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, who decried the worsening security and humanitarian situation in the Sahel.

Guterres stressed the need for a coherent regional and international action to curb the surging scourge of terrorism and violent extremism in the sub-region.

The meeting was chaired by President Julius Bio of Sierra Leone, who is the current Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.

Bio stressed that terrorism was a collective global challenge, which required renewed global cooperation in order to curb and conquer. (VANGUARD)