2021: Nigeria, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso record 2,089 deaths in 714 Boko Haram attacks – ECOWAS

The President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Jean Claude Kassi Brou, yesterday, said Nigeria, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, recorded 714 terrorist attacks in 2021.

Brou, while presenting the 2021 Interim Report on the State of the Community during the ongoing 2021 First Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja, also said within the period, a total number of 2089 fatalities were recorded in the affected countries.

While speaking on the ongoing security threats in the region, Brou said insecurity which was previously in the Sahel Region (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso) and Northern Nigeria, is currently spreading to other regions, even threatening the coastal area.

Brou lamented the humanitarian crises in the region, which he said, had a growing number of internally displaced persons and refugees to care for.

Focusing on the 2020-2024 Priority Action Plan to Eradicate Terrorism, Brou said: “Terrorist Attacks in Member States: Increase in number of terrorist attacks (Nigeria, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, 714 attacks and 2089 fatalities in 2021.”

On the implementation of regional security plan, Brou stated that member states contributions were critical to fund implementation of the Plan of Action, disclosing that pledges so far received were only from West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), Ghana and Nigeria.

Brou further said according to UNHCR Global Focus May, 2021, there were 449,472 refugees and 3,707,160 internally displaced persons in the West African sub-region.

Brou who also spoke on maritime security, said according to International Maritime Bureau, there was increase in pirates attacks in the Gulf of Guinea as the first quarter of 2021 witnessed 43 percent of all reported piracy incidents.