Violent Extremism, Terrorism, Biggest Threat To ECOWAS Subregion, Says Commandant Gyane

Major General Richard Gyane, Commandant of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), has described violent extremism and terrorism (VET) as the most serious threat to the ECOWAS subregion, Africa, and humanity.

Gyane said this in Abuja during a press conference on Wednesday as part of KAIPTC’s mobile training course on women, youth, and VET.

The Commandant stated that the security challenges in West Africa had influenced KAIPTC’s decision to organise capacity building for women and youth to strengthen their resilience in the face of terrorism.

He stated that the training, which was organised in collaboration with the Norwegian government, would provide women and youth with the necessary knowledge about terrorist operations and strengthen their resilience to VET threats.

Gyane stated, “If you look at our subregion now, violent extremism is a big threat to us; if you look at the Sahel nations, most of these countries have been virtually taken over by violent groups.”

“Looking at Nigeria and the Boko Haram group, and the movement of these groups southward, it is concerning.

“Why are we so particular about women and youth? They become susceptible. These are our society’s most vulnerable groups, and VETs can radicalise them.

“The goal is to engage these women and youth in particular, and to educate them on the issues, recruitment, and other aspects of these groups that seek to destroy our humanity in the subregion,” he stated.

He stated that KAIPTC engages and empowers women and youth through its training programmes because when people are empowered, it is more difficult for VET groups to radicalise and take over their countries.

He did, however, point out that no country could tackle VET alone, emphasising the importance of collaboration among all stakeholders outside of the security space to combat VET’s growing scourge in West Africa and Africa as a whole.

Gyane stated that, given ECOWAS countries’ porous borders and the need for cooperation and intelligence sharing, ECOWAS member states should do everything possible to bring on board Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, which are threatening to leave the bloc.

“It is not good for the subregion to have a divided front, and I believe that whatever we need to do to bring these countries on board who want to separate from the subregion is necessary.

“ECOWAS has done well in certain areas, particularly the free movement of persons protocol, and I believe it has done particularly well on the African continent.

“But I believe we need to collaborate beyond just the security space. I would like to see us one day using the same currency and all that.

“We should work more as a homogeneous subregion to ensure that people can live and work wherever they want and conduct business.

“When we do this, it can help us control violent extremism and terrorism,” Gyane said.