ACCRA, Ghana, Sept 11 (BERNAMA-NNN-Xinhua) -- The Economic Community of West Africa States' (ECOWAS) military chiefs are holding a three-day meeting here, to deliberate on security concerns affecting the sub-region.
Prominent on their agenda are the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) threat, Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria, political situation in Mali and Guinea Bissau, Al-Qaeda threats, piracy and maritime insecurity.
The 34th Ordinary Meeting of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff, which opened on Tuesday, is on the theme "Strengthening ECOWAS Military Cooperation for Peace, Stability and Development."
In an opening address, Ghana's Defence minister, Benjamin Kunbuor, called on the service chiefs to help address the Ebola threat by assisting the civilian population to "strategise towards stemming the spread of the virus."
He said, Ghana was following with keen interest the progress in the handling of the Ebola threat, hence the designation of the country as the distribution point for the supply of Ebola Support by current ECOWAS Chairman, President John Dramani Mahama.
Kunbuor said, Ghana was also monitoring the security situation in North Eastern Nigeria, and the achievements of the ECOWAS Mission in Guinea Bissau.
He reiterated Ghana's commitment to peace, security and development of the West African sub-region, saying, "Ghana is poised to continue to support all efforts at securing peace and stability, more especially in the West African sub-region."
He also urged the participants to help deal with other threats like child and drug trafficking and the proliferation of arms and light weapons.
Vice Admiral Mathew Quashie, Ghana's Chief of Defence, stressed the need for a multifaceted approach to deal with Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb threat, through building on ECOWAS counter terrorism capabilities.
Quashie, who takes over as head of the Committee of the Chiefs of Defence Staff from Ivorian Chief of Defence Staff, General Soumaila Bakayoko, said, the "ECOWAS security apparatus must also ratify, domesticate and implement relevant international protocols and counter-terrorism in the sub-region."
The sub-regional body, he urged, must also cooperate in the areas of intelligence, investigation and prosecution.
"It is the responsibility of the ECOWAS Commission, the National Task Forces and the role of our partners, including the UN, AU, Interpol, Civil Society and Development Partners, to work towards implementing the ECOWAS counter terrorism strategy."
Salamatu Hussani Suleiman, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, said, significant progress had been made in stabilising the political situation in Guinea Bissau.
The presence of the ECOWAS Mission in Guinea Bissau, she noted, had also enhanced the security profile of that country.
Suleiman said, an Inter-Regional Maritime Coordinating Centre would be inaugurated in Yaounde, Cameroon, on Thursday (today), as part of an overall strategy to address issues bordering on threats posed by piracy and maritime insecurity.
Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) has offered to assist Ghana to prevent the Ebola virus from entering the West African country.
This followed President John Dramani Mahama's acceptance, last Friday, of a request from the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, for Ghana to be used as a logistics base for international flights to affected countries.
Following the agreement, the UN has offered to assist Ghana to review and strengthen its Ebola preparedness, in order not to suffer unduly by exposing itself to the disease.
A statement from the Flagstaff House Communications Bureau, copied to the Daily Graphic said, "The United Nations and Ghana will work closely, to put in place appropriate screening and prevention measures to avoid any adverse effects on Ghana, as a result of the operations of the Logistics Centre."
By the agreement, "the UN and other international organisations will use Accra as a centre for airlifting supplies and personnel, to the most affected countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. "
"Following the outbreak of the Ebola virus, most of the regular commercial flights into the affected areas have been suspended, making it difficult for equipment, logistics and personnel to reach the affected nations," it said.
"The current limitations on flights into and out of these countries and the restrictions placed on aircraft originating from these countries, transiting through airports in neighbouring countries, though understandable, are not warranted," UN spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, was quoted as saying.
At least, some 2,100 people infected by the EVD in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria have died this year, according to the World Health Organisation, which puts the number of deaths of health workers at 79.
The other major threat to peace in the sub-region, particularly in Nigeria, is the growing menace posed by the Boko Haram insurgency, to that country's hegemony, as the group has already declared an Islamic state in areas it controls in north-eastern Nigeria.
-- BERNAMA-NNN-XINHUA