We Must Operationalise ECOWAS Standby Force Now, Tinubu Tells W’African Leaders

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu on Sunday charged his West African colleagues on the need to operationalise the ECOWAS Standby Force as a potent tool to crush terrorism in the sub-region.

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“We must act decisively to operationalise the ECOWAS Standby Force on the fight against terrorism to serve as an instrument for peace and stability for our region,” Tinubu told West African leaders at the 67th ECOWAS Heads of State and Government Summit in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja.

Tinubu stated this his capacity as the chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Authority of Heads of State and Government, shortly before he handed over to Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone.

He said Nigeria would continue to be committed to the peace, integration and economic prosperity of the sub-region.

He said no nation can address the challenges of terrorism and external security threats in the sub-region alone, hence the need to translate the ECOWAS Standby Force from concept to reality to serve as a regional counter-terrorism force.

President Bola Tinubu visits the Nigerian Troops stationed in Bissau on Saturday, July 8, 2023, as part of the ECOWAS Stabilisation Force, on arrival at the Aeroporto International Guinea-Bissau ahead of the 63rd Ordinary session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government. (Facebook/PBAT Media Centre)

Tinubu said he was worried over the slow pace of the force, which was supposed to be constituted with soldiers drawn from all ECOWAS member states.

“No single nation can address these challenges alone. We must strengthen coordination, amplify political will and prioritise a collective approach to security.

This is why the ECOWAS Standby Force must move from the concept to operational reality now. I am a little bit worried about the slow pace of its activation, which is taking longer than desired,” he said.

He expressed satisfaction that under his leadership, the ECOWAS military logistics depot in Lungi, Sierra Leone, has been completed.

“I am pleased to note that under my authority, the ECOWAS military logistics depot in Lungi, Sierra Leone, has been completed. The depot will play a critical role in providing equipment or other logistics to forces deployed by ECOWAS,” he said.

A wave of attacks in Benin and Nigeria has recently tested the region, with Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda, ISWAP terrorists exploiting strained relationships between members of the ECOWAS and Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, who withdrew from the 15-member regional bloc at the beginning of 2025.

The remaining 12 members of ECOWAS are Benin Republic, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Togo and Nigeria.

In March, Niger Republic withdrew from a joint task force it had formed with Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad to combat jihadists around Lake Chad — disrupting cross-border patrols and intelligence sharing.

According to the Global Terrorism Index, the Sahel region was the world epicentre for extremist violence in 2024, accounting for half of all extremism-related deaths.