ECOWAS: 14,500 people killed by terrorists in west Africa, in four and half years
Written by News Room on July 14, 2022
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has disclosed that about 14,500 people have been killed by terrorists, with the number of refugees seeking humanitarian assistance within the region now 5,500,000 in the last 4 and half years.
The outgoing President of the ECOWAS Commission Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, gave the figure during his valedictory and hand over speech to his successor at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.
Brou, who is to assume the position of the governor of the West African Bank, handed over to the new management of the commission led by President Omar Alieu Touray from The Gambia.
He said the deterioration of the security situation has caused havoc not only in the Sahel area, 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, where Terrorist attacks and herds of bandits plunged these countries into mourning, threatening the peace of rural population, and forcing people to seek shelter away from their home areas.
The Ivorian, however, said the commission has reached out to provide assistance to many of the victims, as well as to victims of natural disasters.
He said a regional action plan to combat terrorism in the region has been followed, stressing that the plan would require sustained commitment including financial support from member States for it to yield expected result.
Ango Bally
