ECOWAS Votes $1 Billion To Fight Boko Haram Militants, al-Qaeda In Sahel

The Chair ECOWAS Authority of Heads of States and Government, Nana Addo Akufo- Addo, on Monday revealed that the body has earmarked $1 to fight al-Qaeda in the Sahel and the Boko Haram militants.

He said this in Abuja during his ongoing working visit in Abuja monitored.

Akufo- Addo, who is the president of Ghana, had in Niamey, Niger, said he was focused on addressing challenges in the region including the issue of terrorism, the African Continental Free Trade Area and Monetary Union.

He said, ” To this end, one billion dollars (US$1 billion) was programmed for the financing of activities in the Action Plan. We have to intensify our efforts to ensure that the Plan of Action is well financed, with a view to ridding our Community of terrorism.”

He however admitted that the funds were not on ground but the body was making efforts to raise the needed fund which he said may not be enough to fight insurgency in the region.

He said the region in recent years has become a hotbed of terrorists and extremists activities, as a result of greater activism of groups operating in the North East of Nigeria, the Lake Chad Basin, Mali and the Greater Sahel.

“Endemic poverty and widespread disillusionment amongst youth in Africa are not only providing fertile breeding grounds for those who want to cross the Sahara Desert on foot, and the Mediterranean Sea in rickety boats, in the hope of finding a better future in Europe, but also for a new generation of terrorists and violent extremist, ” he added.