Prez Mahama assures Nigeria of ECOWAS solidarity

The President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has expressed the solidarity of heads of state of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) with the government and people of Nigerian in the face of terrorists attacks by the Boko Haram.

In an interaction with journalists after meeting Nigerian President, Mr Goodluck Jonathan,  in Abuja, Nigeria yesterday, Mr Mahama said he had been speaking with his colleagues in his capacity as ECOWAS Chairman on how to combat the attacks.

“As you are aware, ECOWAS has a Common Anti-Terrorism strategy and as Chair of ECOWAS, I have been speaking with other heads of state and they believe that we should activate the anti-terrorism strategy, ” he said. 

He said ECOWAS would be calling a meeting of its joint intelligence chiefs in Accra next week and Cameroun and Chad would be invited so that together they could see how to eliminate the security threat to the sub region. 

President Mahama said terrorism was not peculiar to any country and that it could occur anywhere.

Welcoming the international effort to join forces with Nigeria to fight Boko Haram, Mr Mahama said any destabilisation of Nigeria was a destabilisation of the whole of the West African sub-region. 

Meanwhile, just before he left for Abuja, President Mahama released a statement  expressing the concern of Ghanaians over the security situation in Nigeria and condemned other acts of terror waged against the innocent people of Nigeria by the terrorist group.

He further expressed outrage at the abduction of 200 schoolgirls from the Chibok Government School in the Borno State, Nigeria, by the Boko Haram and pledged the support of Ghana in efforts at freeing the girls.

“We trust that President Jonathan and his government, with the support of the international community, are doing all within their power to free the schoolgirls and end the cycle of terrorist violence perpetuated by the Boko Haram group,” he said.

While extending prayers and hope to the families of the abducted girls and hoping that they would be freed soon, the President said as the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, he had, on behalf of all West Africans, already written to Mr Jonathan, expressing sympathies for the loss of lives in the recent bomb blast that claimed many lives. 

Destabilisation

President Mahama said the destabilisation of any nation in West Africa was a threat to the security of all the surrounding nations. 

“We, Ghanaians, are all too familiar with this fact. Despite two devastating civil wars and several other incidents of political instability in our neighbouring countries, we managed to not only maintain peace within our borders but also extend hands of support as we deployed our peacekeepers to help these sister nations to regain peace, stability and democracy, plus respect for the rule of law,” it stated.

National security

The President said he had tasked the National Security Council to “strengthen and enhance security measures and also increase patrol presence all across the country to make sure that everyone who enters Ghana has a legitimate reason for doing so”.

 “As I have stated on numerous occasions, rather than allow our diversity in religious affiliations, ethnic and tribal backgrounds to divide us, we Ghanaians will work harder to enhance our tradition of coming together and counting ourselves as one,” he stated.

He assured Ghanaians that his administration took any threat to the security of our country seriously, whether the threat came directly or indirectly, whether it was potential or perceived.

“As we extend our hands of concern and support to our brothers and sisters in Nigeria, I wish to call on all Ghanaians to remain vigilant and united as one people,

committed to deepening the peace, unity and stability we cherish,” the President said.