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From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Federal Government have renewed efforts at tackling problems associated with trans humans and its attendant security concerns.
The development is the outcome of a meeting between the Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdurahman Dambazau and the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Marcel de Souza, in Abuja.
In his remarks, Dambazau maintained that the dimensions to regional security became very worrisome with herder/farmers clashes alongside terrorists attacks.
He said the federal Government is seeking collaborative support to tackle drivers of dangerous cross-border activities which was identified as proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
“Clashes between cattle herders and farmers are tending to be more prevalent in Nigeria, owing to its size and population. We think that we and ECOWAS should come together to look at the wider dimension.
“We require stability in the region, hence, this high-level conference is being proposed to examine, among others, the ecological dimension such as desertification and draught,” the ECOWAS Commission said in a statement, which quoted Dambazau, in Abuja, yesterday.
The ECOWAS Commission added that with the concurrence of the Nigerian side, a high-level inter-ministerial conference will be convoked, sometime in February 2018, to find amicable solutions to the problems.
The inter-ministerial meeting comprising appropriate ministries will be supported by designated focal persons from the Nigerian end, as well as relevant directorate from the ECOWAS Commission. On his part, the ECOWAS Commission president told Dambazau that cooperation between the two sides has become imperative, given the complex nature of the problem of trans-humans.
