According to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), terrorists have killed 14,500 people in the West African region over the course of four and a half years.
5.5 million people have been displaced by the insecurity in the area, according to Jean-Claude Brou, the outgoing President of the ECOWAS Commission.
On Wednesday in Abuja, during the transfer of authority to the new leadership of the Commission under the direction of President Omar Touray, Brou, who will fill the position of Governor of the West African Bank, spoke.
“First of all, the worsening security situation has wreaked havoc not only in the Sahel region, affecting Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and the North-East of Nigeria, but it soon expanded to the coastal zone, hitting Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, and Togo,” he said.
With nearly 14,500 deaths in four and a half years due to terrorist attacks and bandit hordes, these countries have been in mourning. As a result, the rural population has been forced to flee their homes in search of safety.
This brings the total number of refugees and internally displaced people in our region to about 5.5 million, all of whom require humanitarian aid.
He claimed that the commission has reached out to many of them as well as those who have been affected by natural disasters in order to offer assistance.
He claims that the regional action plan put in place to fight terrorism in the area has been carried out.
For the plan to produce the desired results, according to Brou, it needed continued commitment from member states, as well as financial support.
The development and implementation of a regional action plan to combat terrorism in West Africa. To yield the anticipated results in the medium to long term, it will require ongoing commitment, including financial support from member states, the official said.
