Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, retired General Christopher Gwabin Musa, has called for a unified security alliance between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) to combat terrorism and cross-border crime.
Speaking upon his arrival in Cotonou for a three-day working visit to Benin, Musa stressed that defeating insurgency and securing maritime trade along the Gulf of Guinea requires a coordinated regional strategy.
The minister was received at Cotonou International Airport by Benin’s Minister of National Defence, Gildas Agonkan.
Cross-border cooperation
Addressing defence officials, Musa warned that confronting West Africa’s evolving security threats demands an inclusive front between regional bodies to prevent insurgent spillover across land borders and bolster maritime defence.
In response, Benin’s Defence Minister Agonkan commended Nigeria’s role in sub-regional stability and democracy, praising the participation of a Nigerian Army contingent in Benin’s National Day parade on August 1.
During the visit, Musa also met with Nigerian military personnel deployed at Togbin to review operational readiness and visited Nigeria’s Ambassador to Benin, Mopelola Ibrahim, to discuss joint border surveillance and bilateral trade relations.
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