General Christopher Musa, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), has expressed regret about military takeover in several West African nations, claiming it has had unforeseen effects and jeopardized democratic ideals in the area.
On Wednesday, he delivered a speech at the 42nd Ordinary Meeting of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff, held in Abuja. According to General Musa, the possibility of a military takeover must be eliminated since it contradicts the fundamental principles and obligations of the military. He went on to say that the military in democracies had a constitutional obligation to protect democratic values.
Additionally, Yusuf Tuggar, the minister of foreign affairs, and Mohammed Abubakar, the minister of defense, issued a challenge to the heads of the regional service organizations to combat terrorism by working together effectively to stop the illegal circulation of light and small weaponry throughout the West African subregion.
Regional security is on the agenda for the summit, which is being hosted at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, at a time when the bloc is debating the creation of a force to combat security threats.
The defense chiefs of Cape Verde, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, and Togo were not present at the meeting, out of the fifteen expected.
The defense chiefs had decided to take a comprehensive and all-encompassing approach to the political, security, and diplomatic aspects of handling the situation in the Niger Republic at the conclusion of their previous meeting in August of last year.
The mutual defense pact was established by the military governments in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger after they withdrew from the larger Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in January.
Following their withdrawal from ECOWAS, the leaders of the three nations attended the inaugural summit of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) in July.
Their claims that Paris was controlling the bloc and undermining efforts to combat terrorism contributed to their decision to leave ECOWAS.