Nigeria’s army chief calls for stronger ECOWAS security cooperation
Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu has called for deeper defence partnerships among ECOWAS member states, saying terrorism, violent extremism, organised crime and other cross-border threats cannot be tackled effectively by individual countries. He proposed sustained dialogue, intelligence sharing, joint exercises and harmonised military doctrines.
Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, has called for deeper regional security cooperation and stronger defence partnerships among Economic Community of West African States member states. Shaibu made the appeal on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, when the Chief of Staff of the ECOWAS Standby Force, Brigadier General Sheik Massaquoi, led a delegation on a courtesy visit to Army Headquarters in Abuja. The army chief said the increasingly complex and interconnected nature of security threats required countries in the region to work together.
He identified terrorism, violent extremism, transnational organised crime and other cross-border threats as challenges that individual states could not effectively address alone. Shaibu urged military leaders to use their collective professional expertise and operational experience to develop practical responses to emerging threats. He called for regular military dialogue, intelligence sharing, joint training and exercises, and continued efforts to review and harmonise military doctrines.
According to him, those measures would improve interoperability, operational readiness and the ability of regional forces to plan and respond collectively. He reaffirmed the Nigerian Army’s commitment to the country’s regional security obligations and said it would continue supporting initiatives to strengthen the ECOWAS security architecture. Massaquoi thanked the Nigerian Army for its support and recognised Nigeria’s contributions to peacekeeping, regional security and defence cooperation in West Africa.
He called for the ECOWAS Standby Force to become more proactive, interoperable and responsive. Updated doctrines, joint exercises and stronger defence partnerships, he said, were necessary to improve the force’s ability to support collective security, peace and stability across the subregion.
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