West Africa’s top defense brass convened in Abuja this week for a pivotal security summit, grappling with an escalating terror threat and the fallout from three member states’ withdrawal from the bloc, as jihadist violence spills beyond the Sahel into coastal nations.
The 43rd meeting of ECOWAS’ Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CCDS) opened Tuesday against a grim backdrop: militant attacks in Benin, Togo, and Ivory Coast have surged 40% year-on-year, while Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger—now aligned with Russia’s Wagner Group—form a destabilizing axis challenging the bloc’s influence.
Nigeria’s Defence Minister Mohammed Badaru Abubakar set the tone, urging “ruthless collaboration” to counter groups like Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which now exploit governance vacuums left by the Sahel exits. “Terrorists don’t respect borders. Neither can our strategies,” he said, pushing for shared intelligence and pooled military assets. The call comes as ECOWAS’ Standby Force—a 5,000-troop rapid-response unit—faces operational paralysis, with contributions from exited states frozen and logistics hubs like Sierra Leone’s Lungi depot underfunded.
ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs Abdel-Fatau Musah warned that the Sahel trio’s departure has emboldened transnational crime rings trafficking arms and narcotics through the Gulf of Guinea. “We’re not just fighting terrorists; we’re battling an ecosystem of chaos,” he stated, revealing plans to revamp the bloc’s defense architecture. Draft proposals include expanding the Standby Force’s mandate to cyber warfare and establishing a regional drone surveillance network—a tacit admission that current counterinsurgency tactics are failing.
Key agenda items underscore the urgency: reviewing February’s Joint Chiefs’ report from Cabo Verde, which flagged critical gaps in air support and medical evacuation capabilities; finalizing logistics protocols for cross-border deployments; and revitalizing the beleaguered Anti-Terrorist Brigade, which has operated below 30% capacity since 2023. Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, stressed that the Sahel crisis demands “hybrid solutions,” blending military ops with cyber defenses against jihadist propaganda.
The summit’s elephant in the room: ECOWAS’ dwindling leverage. With Mali and Niger hosting 1,500 Wagner mercenaries and Burkina Faso recruiting auxiliaries from Iran, the bloc’s sanctions have backfired, pushing the juntas deeper into Moscow’s orbit. A confidential draft resolution seen by Bloomberg proposes “asymmetric engagement” with the exited states via backchannel talks—a stark reversal from 2024’s hardline posture.
On the sidelines, ECOWAS donated advanced IT systems to Nigeria’s National Defence College, aiming to bolster strategic training for officers across member states. Yet the gesture highlights a stark disparity: while coastal nations receive tech upgrades, frontline Sahel armies lack night-vision gear and armored vehicles.
As the meeting closed Thursday, officials pledged to “accelerate actionable outcomes.” But with trust fraying and resources stretched, ECOWAS’ security ambitions hinge on a precarious bet: that unity can still trump the allure of Wagner’s shadowy patronage. For now, the region’s defense chiefs face a brutal calculus—adapt or cede ground to an enemy thriving on their disarray.
