President Bola Tinubu has called for the reactivation of a regional standby force to strengthen collective security efforts in West Africa and the Sahel, urging countries in the region to leverage Nigeria’s National Counter Terrorism Centre in Abuja as an intelligence and operations hub. “Nigeria is favourably disposed to more collaborative and multilateral approaches aimed at dealing with the security crisis in the Sahel,” Tinubu said. Tinubu said the security situation in large parts of West Africa remains volatile, with rising casualties of violence, including among women and children. He further warned that drug cartels may be relocating operations to weaker jurisdictions in West Africa, amid intensified anti-narcotics campaigns in South America, raising the risk of alliances between traffickers and insurgent groups. Tinubu expressed optimism that the deliberations of intelligence chiefs and strategic stakeholders at the Accra conference would provide a sustainable framework for an inclusive regional counterterrorism strategy
