Navy Chief Seeks Stronger ECOWAS Military Cooperation Against Transnational Threats
The Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, has called for stronger regional military and maritime cooperation among African countries to enhance collective efforts against terrorism, insurgency and other transnational security threats.
Abbas made the call on Friday, September 11, 2026, when the Chief of Staff, ECOWAS Standby Force, Brigadier General Sheikh Sulaiman Massaquoi, paid a courtesy visit to the Chief of the Naval Staff at the Naval Headquarters in Abuja.
The Naval Chief said broader participation by African countries in regional security initiatives, particularly the recently launched Combined Maritime Task Force–Gulf of Guinea (CMTF-GoG), would strengthen the continent’s collective capacity to respond to emerging security challenges.
He highlighted Nigeria’s contributions to regional security, particularly through maritime logistics and strategic sealift support for ECOWAS operations.
According to him, the recent transportation of Chinese-donated ECOWAS equipment to frontline countries, including Benin Republic and Sierra Leone, underscores the importance of regional logistics and mobility in supporting collective security efforts.
The equipment donated by China comprises non-lethal field-support items intended to enhance the operational and humanitarian capabilities of ECOWAS member states.
Abbas also recalled the Nigerian Navy’s strategic sealift of military hardware to Guinea-Bissau in 2022, when NNS KADA transported equipment for the Nigerian contingent deployed under the ECOWAS Stabilisation Support Mission.
He said the deployment demonstrated Nigeria’s capacity to provide maritime logistics support for regional peace and security operations.
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The Chief of the Naval Staff advocated closer synergy between the ECOWAS Standby Force and the CMTF-GoG, noting that contemporary security threats increasingly transcend land and maritime domains.
He stressed that effective responses to such threats required shared capabilities, intelligence, interoperability and coordinated military operations.
Abbas therefore encouraged more African countries to participate in the CMTF-GoG, saying wider regional involvement would contribute to the development of a stronger security architecture capable of tackling transnational maritime threats in the Gulf of Guinea and beyond.
He also called for the continued strengthening of the ECOWAS Standby Force to ensure that it remains operationally ready and capable of rapid deployment against common threats, including terrorism, insurgency and organised cross-border crime.
The Naval Chief said the increasingly interconnected nature of Africa’s security challenges made it difficult for individual countries to effectively address them in isolation.
He advocated a coordinated regional security response anchored on intelligence sharing, interoperable forces, joint operations and sustained political commitment to protect the continent’s population, resources and development interests.
Responding, Massaquoi conveyed the greetings of the President of the ECOWAS Commission and acknowledged Nigeria’s significant contribution to regional security.
He expressed appreciation for Nigeria’s continued support for ECOWAS initiatives and stressed the need to further strengthen the maritime component of the regional security architecture.
The engagement underscored Nigeria’s strategic role in regional security efforts and the importance of greater military interoperability and broader African participation in building a more responsive security framework for the Gulf of Guinea and the wider West African sub-region.
By PRNigeria
