Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, will lead the Nigerian delegation to the ministerial meeting of the extraordinary summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State and Government on fight against terrorism.
The theme of the extraordinary summit is “Fight Against Terrorism.’
The summit, according to the Spokesperson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ferdinand Nwonye, is scheduled for Thursday, September 12, 2019, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Nwonye added that President Muhammadu Buhari would attend the Summit of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government on Saturday 14th September, 2019.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja, wishes to inform that the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, will lead Nigerian Delegation to the Ministerial Meeting of the Extraordinary Summit of ECOWAS Authority Of Heads of State and Government scheduled for Thursday 12th September, 2019, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, the ECOWAS Commission, has said the summit in Burkina Faso is to deliberate on the growing threats of terrorism in the region.
It added that the council will be meeting to reaffirm the determination of ECOWAS member states to work collectively to prevent and more efficiently, combat terrorism, strengthen cooperation and coordination and redefine priority areas for member states.
“Given the growing threat of terrorism in the region, the Heads of States and Government of ECOWAS and ECCAS (Economic Community of Central African States) conscious of the cross-border and trans-regional nature of the terrorism threat, convened a joint summit in Lomé on the 30th of July 2018.
“The Lomé Declaration on Peace, Security, Stability and the Fight Against terrorism and Violent Extremism” was adopted after the meeting.
“Subsequently, the Heads of State of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo met in Accra, Ghana, where they discussed developments in the security situation in the region. They adopted a number of decisions among which is the call for an Extraordinary Summit on Terrorism, which will hold in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on the 14th of September 2019.
“The Mediation and Security Council is meeting in preparation of the Extraordinary Summit of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government on Terrorism.
“As part of a multi-level preparatory process to involve all levels and sectors of the society, two meetings were held in Niamey, Niger. The Civilian Stakeholders meeting on Terrorism in the ECOWAS Region was the first, from the 26th to 27th August 2019. Then the meeting of the Chiefs of Defence Staff, Heads of Security and Intelligence Services followed on the 28th and 29th August 2019,” the ECOWAS Commission said.