GHANA: ECOWAS says bloc will not allow any of its member countries to be used to destabilize other countries in the region, following worsening insecurity in northern Nigeria and in Mali, where Tuareg separatists routed government troops last week

Record ID: 236775

  • Title: GHANA: ECOWAS says bloc will not allow any of its member countries to be used to destabilize other countries in the region, following worsening insecurity in northern Nigeria and in Mali, where Tuareg separatists routed government troops last week
  • Date: 31st May 2014
  • Summary: ACCRA, GHANA (MAY 30, 2014) (REUTERS) ***QUALITY AS INCOMING*** VARIOUS OF BANNER READING "EXTRAORDINARY SESSION OF THE AUTHORITY OF ECOWAS HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT" MALIAN PRESIDENT, IBRAHIM BOUBACAR KEITA, ARRIVING BENIN PRESIDENT YAYI BONNI ARRIVING ECOWAS FLAGS VARIOUS OF PARTICIPANTS SEATED VARIOUS OF NIGERIAN PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN AND ECOWAS CHAIRMAN ENTERING THE AUDITORIUM JONATHAN SITTING VARIOUS OF MALIAN PRESIDENT VARIOUS OF ECOWAS HEADS OF STATE NEAR MEMBER STATES FLAGS PRESIDENT OF THE ECOWAS COMMISSION SITTING ECOWAS CHAIRMAN JOHN MAHAMA WALKING TOWARDS PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) GHANA PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT OF ECOWAS, JOHN MAHAMA SAYING: "An act of terror against one member state is an act of terror against all African member states. Terrorism is not solely a west African problem it is a world problem, it is in fact becoming an undeniable fact of the world in which we live today." AFRICAN FLAGS. (SOUNDBITE) (English) GHANA PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT OF ECOWAS, JOHN MAHAMA SAYING: "Ecowas must play a leading role in this effort to fully restore peace and security in the sub-region and by so doing safeguard our future and all of the work that we as heads of state and are citizens of our nations have done to ensure that our people are prosperous." SHOTS OF AFRICAN FLAGS AND ECOWAS LOGO
  • Embargoed: 15th June 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ghana
  • Country: Ghana
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAD4IT74YKGMKCARTE4O3CL53DT
  • Story Text: Leaders from the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held an extraordinary summit on Friday (May 30) in Ghana to discuss worsening insecurity in northern Nigeria and in Mali, where Tuareg separatists routed government troops last week.
    Suspected members of the Boko Haram Islamist group, which kidnapped 276 schoolgirls last month, gunned down a traditional Muslim emir in an attack on a convoy in northeastern Nigeria on Friday, the Borno state government said.
    Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama, who holds the rotating presidency of the bloc, said at the opening of the summit that Ecowas must act and must put in place measures that make clear that the bloc will not allow any of its countries to be used to destabilize other nations.
    "An act of terror against one member state is an act of terror against all African member states. Terrorism is not solely a west African problem it is a world problem, it is in fact becoming an undeniable fact of the world in which we live today," Mahama said.
    "Ecowas must play a leading role in this effort to fully restore peace and security in the sub-region and by so doing safeguard our future and all of the work that we as heads of state and are citizens of our nations have done to ensure that our people are prosperous," he said.
    Since April 14, when the girls were taken in Nigeria, at least 500 civilians have been killed by the militants, according to a Reuters count.
    Nigeria's head of counter-terrorism on Friday accused neighbouring Cameroon, which is not an ECOWAS member, of failing to make a serious effort to drive Boko Haram insurgents from its territory.
    Despite a year-long military offensive against it, Boko Haram, which is fighting to reinstate an ancient Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria, has been able to run riot in the north east and bomb cities across the country.
    On Thursday (May 29), in the northeastern village of Gurmushi, near Nigeria's border with Cameroon, suspected Islamist gunmen riding motor bikes killed 32 people.
    Nigeria's president Goodluck Jonathan said on Thursday he had ordered a full-scale operation against Boko Haram and sought to reassure parents of the 219 schoolgirls still being held by the group that their children would be freed.
    Boko Haram has been kidnapping schoolgirls and forcing them to become "brides" for commanders for more than a year, but the attack on Chibok last month shocked the world and prompted an international effort to free them.
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