A state of emergency has been proclaimed by Dr. Omar Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission, in response to growing acts of terrorism and violent extremism, military takeovers, banditry, and political unrest throughout the subregion.
Touray made this announcement on Tuesday at the Ministerial level of the 55th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council (MSC) in Abuja.
He claimed that the past few weeks’ events had demonstrated the necessity of serious reflection on democracy’s future and the pressing need to make investments in the security of the subregion.
He claims that country-by-country evaluations of member states reveal varying risk levels throughout the sub-region, ranging from high to medium, with an average of high risk, necessitating prompt and coordinated action.
Given the circumstances, it is reasonable to proclaim a state of emergency in our town.
“We need to give these threats the attention they require.
In order to do this, the mediation and security council sessions ought to be held more frequently than the two regular sessions during the course of the following year.
“To combat the challenges posed by banditry and terrorism, which disregard national borders, we must combine our resources.
“Therefore, we need to make choices and take actions that will stop this trend,” he stated.
Despite this, Touray claimed that elections in the subregion have turned into a significant source of instability.
ECOWAS’s best efforts to protect its democratic credentials and stability while establishing constitutional convergence norms.
According to the emergency, he stated that in order to provide direction and facilitate regional action, the MSC must continuously assess the political and security conditions in West Africa.
In light of the destructive impact of terrorism along their shared borders, he stated that ECOWAS must also engage in negotiations with its Alliance of Sahel States (AES) neighbors, especially with reference to their security cooperation.
Elections in Guinea, the Republic of Benin, the Gambia, and Cape Verde are scheduled for the upcoming days and months of next year.
He added, “We will also be handling the aftermath of the coup in Guinea-Bissau and the coup attempt in the Republic of Benin.”
According to the president of the panel, West Africa also faced humanitarian issues, with families, women, and children suffering the most from insecurity.
According to him, there were roughly 7.6 million people who had been forcibly relocated throughout West and Central Africa as of October 2025, up from 7.4 million in March.
According to Touray, who cited information from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 6,506,270 of them were internally displaced people (IDPs), with Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali having the biggest numbers.
In addition, there are 1,094,742 asylum seekers and refugees. The 10 nations with the biggest populations of asylum seekers, in decreasing order, are Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Benin, Senegal, and Gambia.
“Let me reassure the residents of our community that we will not stop working. For the benefit of all community members, we will keep putting up more effort to advance an area that is stronger, more peaceful, and stable.
He declared, “Let’s all continue to be dedicated to maintaining regional unity, promoting peace, and upholding the Community’s Constitutional Convergence Principles.”
Timothy Kabba, the Chairman of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs for Sierra Leone, issued a warning that the subregion’s growing political and security unrest jeopardized democratic governance and undermined public trust.
It makes sense that our citizens are nervous. They are looking to us for leadership that turns dedication into action, not simply for words of concern.
“Our people no longer tolerate unfulfilled promises, therefore our resolutions need to go beyond rhetoric. They demand unity, sincerity, and purpose,” he continued.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the meeting’s goal was to assess the political and security environment of the subregion in order to create strategic plans to deal with new issues.
Tinubu’s request to send troops to the Benin Republic is approved by the Senate.
In the meantime, President Bola Tinubu’s proposal to send Nigerian troops to the Republic of Benin for a peacekeeping mission in the wake of last Sunday’s abortive coup was approved by the Senate on Tuesday in session.
Approval by the upper legislative body came consequent to the adoption of a letter to that effect by Tinubu at the Committee of the Whole where MPs unanimously voted in favour of the deployment, granting legislative backing for the regional security intervention.
Senator Godswill Akpabio, the president of the Senate, called the decision a positive move, pointing out that instability in any neighboring nation puts the entire area at risk.
“An injury to one is an injury to all,” he declared.
During the plenary, a letter submitted to the Senate President conveyed Tinubu’s request.
The President claims that the letter was sent in response to the Republic of Benin’s request for extraordinary air help from Nigeria’s Armed Forces following an attempt by troops to depose President Patrice Talon.
Tinubu claimed to have conferred with the National Defense Council before to sending the request, citing Section 30 (5), Part II of the 1999 Constitution (as modified).
He pointed out that authorizing a regional peacekeeping mission now required Senate approval.
President Tinubu urged the Senate to take immediate action after warning that Benin was in danger of “an attempted unconstitutional seizure of power and the destruction and destabilization of democratic institutions.”
According to the current security arrangements of the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, Nigeria has a historical obligation to assist Benin.
He claims that in order to help restore stability and stop further disintegration of order, the crisis necessitates “urgent external intervention.”
The request was then forwarded to the Committee of the Whole for prompt consideration by the Senate President.
Recall that on Sunday, soldiers under the command of Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri’s “Military Committee for Refoundation” briefly took control of Cotonou’s state television station and declared the overthrow of President Patrice Talon’s government. However, President Tinubu’s troops and fighter jets intervened to thwart the coup.
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