Written by Leon Usigbe, AbujaLEADERS of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met in an extra ordinary session in Abuja, on Sunday and resolved to forward their recommendations on military intervention in Guinea Bissau and Mali to the United Nations (UN) towards ending the crises in the West African countries.
The world body requires that ECOWAS submits its Strategic Concept of Operations (SCO) clarifying the need for use of force and the modalities that will be used to deploy forces to the countries.
November 15, 2012 has now been set as the date of submission of the recommendation to meet with the 45 days deadline set by the UN, which have earlier passed resolutions 2056 and 2071, calling for a road map for the restoration of constitutional order in Mali and also demanding that armed groups stop human rights abuses and humanitarian violations in Northern Mali.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, President Goodluck Jonathan restated the Federal Government’s commitment to using force if necessary to restore order in Mali and Guinea Bissau, emphasising that the people of both countries would only have relief if the result of the Abuja meeting was fruitful.
He impressed upon the West African leaders and the international community that the people of the countries could not afford to be left out in the cold, saying, “We must not fail them.”
According to him, “as leaders of our various countries, we cannot turn a blind eye to potentially destabilising situations in the sub-region. What has been happening in Guinea Bissau and Mali go against our collective vision of a peaceful, stable and economically prosperous region.
culled: tribune
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