Government experts’ from the Economic Community of West African States gathered yesterday in Abuja to validate the Logistics Depot policies of the regional standby force.
This is coming ahead of the commissioning of the ECOWAS Logistics Depot in Lungi, Sierra Leone, which is part of the efforts at equipping the regional standby force.
Speaking at the opening of the validation exercise, Commissioner, Political Affairs Peace and Security, ECOWAS Commission, Amb. Abdel-Fatau Musah, said the increased acts of terrorism, violent extremism and political instability within the region have necessitated the urgent need for fully functional and operational static depot.
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Musah, who was represented by Dr. Sanni Adamu Mohammed, Acting head of peace support operations in ECOWAS, said that the project remains a critical one for peace support operations, explaining that the depot is expected to warehouse all the equipment that are supposed to be deployed for peace support operations.
He said: “The ECOWAS Commission has injected substantial resources towards the construction as well as the operationalisation of the depot, and it remains a critical flagship project for ECOWAS region’s peace support operations infrastructure.
“The increased act of terrorism, violent extremism, and political instability being experienced in a number of our countries, with heavy and dire consequences, are a clear testament to the urgent need for a well-resourced logistics strategy with a fully functional and operational and static depot.”
On why it took the commission this long to put in place the depot, Musah said, “not because of reluctance on the part of management, but because of the need to mobilise the required resources that will enable the commission to actually put in place a depot that will be, you know, consistent with not only continental but also global best practises. So, we are happy the depot is in place now in Lungi, Sierra Leone.