Five ECOWAS Nations commit to strengthening West Africa maritime security

Five ECOWAS Nations commit to strengthening West Africa maritime security

Navies from five ECOWAS-member countries—Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone—have expressed interest in joining the Nigerian Navy (NN) to operationalise the Combined Maritime Task Force (CMTF).

The announcement was made in a statement by the NN’s Acting Director of Information, Capt. A. A. Folorunsho, on Monday. The move aligns with the approval of the Committee of the Chiefs of Defence Staff to operationalise the CMTF through a coalition of ready nations.

The five countries indicated their readiness during the 5th Meeting of the ECOWAS Sub-Committee of Chiefs of Naval Staff held in Ghana from February 16 to 20, 2026. The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, attended the meeting.

The flag-off of the CMTF is scheduled to take place in Lagos from May 31 to June 1, 2026. At the meeting, participants praised Nigeria’s role as host nation, highlighting its commitment through the provision of three ships, one helicopter, eight vehicles, and a temporary furnished office in Lagos.

The CMTF is designed to be a ready-to-deploy force capable of rapid, coordinated regional maritime security responses, leveraging information from maritime centres within the Yaoundé Architecture to address growing and complex security threats in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).

Vice Admiral Abbas reaffirmed Nigeria’s leadership in regional maritime security and pledged continued collaboration with partner navies under the Yaoundé Code of Conduct to enhance coordination, share best practices, and develop African-led solutions for collective maritime threat response across West Africa.

The meeting included the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security (ECOWAS-CPAPS), Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, directors of the West Africa Regional Maritime Security Centre, Multinational Maritime Coordination Centres (MMCC) Zones E, F, and G, as well as representatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the European Union-African Chamber of Commerce, and the Commander of the CMTF.

Speaking at the meeting, Ambassador Musah commended the progress achieved since the adoption of the ECOWAS Integrated Maritime Strategy, including Operation SAFE DOMAIN in Zone E, Operation ANOUANZE in Zone F, and joint maritime patrols in MMCC Zone G.

He emphasized the need for broader security cooperation to tackle terrorism, drug trafficking, and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, highlighting the importance of coordinating with landlocked countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to combat terrorism and other transnational organized crime.

Ambassador Musah also praised Nigeria’s FALCON EYE Surveillance system and leadership in fighting maritime criminality in the Gulf of Guinea. He further urged discussions on measures to address receding water levels in the Lake Chad Basin, stressing the importance of regional collaboration to safeguard maritime and water resources.

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