ECOWAS will continue to persuade the military leaders of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso to return their nations to the fold.

President Bola Tinubu who is the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, reaffirmed this position at a meeting with ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff in Abuja.

Tinubu said it is in their hearts to make sure that security is enhanced and that constitutional government is defended and promoted in our region.

According to him, it has been a challenging tenure for me since three members indicated their exit. We will work hard to persuade them to return, whichever way.

In his words, “No one man is smarter than the group of heads that is here. We will do everything to offer a hand of friendship to them and give them reasons to come back to us.

The ECOWAS Chairman commended the defence chiefs for their commitment to regional stability and protection of constitutional governance.

“The solution to terrorism and other challenges lies in our hands. We have to do it together.

“The ECOWAS standby force must be ready. We will continue to invest in this, as well as in the economic prosperity and opportunities across our region,” President Tinubu said.

Chairman ECOWAS Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, told the President that the defence chiefs had agreed that challenges in the region, such as insurgency and unconstitutional changes in government, must be addressed collectively.

According to him, discussions at the meeting also focused on enhancing the capacity of ECOWAS military component, including the proposed standby force.

He announced that a decision had been made to deploy 1,200 troops to Sierra Leone, with countries making pledges to support this effort.

“We are aware that the ECOWAS Ministers of Finance will meet to discuss the issue of funding, which is another very critical aspect. We also looked at the issue of logistics,” he said.

Musa highlighted the balance between military efforts and the political components of good governance, peace and security as essential for achieving long-term stability.

He pledged the commitment of the defence chiefs to work in unison to ensure the security and safety of the West African sub-region.

Chiefs of Defence Staff in West Africa on Friday, called for the return of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, made the call when he led other ECOWAS defence chiefs on visit to the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), on Friday in Abuja.

Musa, the Chairman of ECOWAS Committee of Defence Chiefs, said that the return of the three countries to the regional bloc was necessary to defeat the insecurity ravaging the region, especially insurgency.

He said that efforts were ongoing on their part to ensure that the three countries were back, adding that all hands must be on deck to curtail insecurity in West Africa.

“For us, we feel without security, there can’t be progress and the threats we are facing, especially on insurgency, are high.

“We think it is very important that we need to partner together to achieve success. No country can do it alone, and that’s why it’s important.

“We know we have three countries that have decided to step aside.

“We are making all efforts to ensure that they come back to the fold because we know even them, on their own, cannot withstand this.

“We know the relevance that if they fall, it will also drag us down and that is why it is important for us as West Africans to continue to work together,’’ he said.

The CDS appreciated the National Coordinator of NCTC, Maj.-Gen. Adamu Laka, for doing a wonderful job in the nation’s counter-terrorism efforts.

He said the insurgency in the region was spreading wide and fast, urging the Defence Chiefs to leave no stone unturned to curb the menace.

“We are sure that we are going to work together to ensure that there is total peace in our own region.

“I had the privilege of being the theatre commander in the Northeast when this horrendous exercise started, and it started like a joke,’’ he added.

Earlier, the National Coordinator of NCTC said there was a need for cooperation among the West African countries to defeat terrorism.

Laka also said countries in the West African region must share experiences, adding that experience sharing remained one of the critical ways.

He said,”We hope to partner with our brothers in the West African sub-region and the Sahel. They say if your brother’s house is on fire, it can also reach yours.

“So we need to learn from one another. We don’t plan to make this place the only place. We plan to partner with Abidjan.

“While we are experts in the preventive aspects, we are going to partner with all those centres to address the threat of terrorism.

“Once the declaration is passed, we plan to visit your centre in Abidjan.

“We are in the process of talking about how we are going to come together to address this threat that is really stopping development and stopping our people from reaping the dividends of democracy,’’ he said.

Laka said the centre was well equipped to address the threat of terrorism, adding that the centre had put in place state-of-the-art forensic laboratories.

According to him, NCTC has toxicology labs, the fingerprint labs, the DNA labs, the handwriting labs, and so on.