West African bloc says region is in a state of emergency amid surge in coups, insecurity
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Coups and attempted coups in West Africa, as well as escalating security challenges across its member states, have left the region in a state of emergency, a regional official said on Tuesday.Omar Touray, president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, said there has been a “growing erosion of electoral inclusivity across multiple states.”Touray told the bloc’s mediation and security council on Tuesday in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, that despite efforts to strengthen constitutional principles, member states are still witnessing actions that undermine them.“Events of the last few weeks have shown the imperative of serious introspection on the future of our democracy and the urgent need to invest in the security of our community,” Touray said. “Faced with this situation, Excellencies, it is safe to declare that our community is in a state of emergency.”On Sunday, a group of soldiers appeared on Benin state TV to announce the dissolution of the government in a coup attempt that failed.The coup attempt is the latest in a string of military takeovers and attempted takeovers that have rocked the West African region.Last month, a military coup in Guinea-Bissau removed former President Umaro Embalo after a contested election in which both he and the opposition candidate declared themselves winners.Touray's declaration may be an attempt to restore credibility for the bloc following a threatened but never acted on intervention in Niger in 2023, said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.“ECOWAS is concerned that coups will become the new mainstream in West Africa,” said Laessing. He recalled that in Niger in 2023, the group threatened military intervention and set deadlines without having a standby force. “Now they try show they mean business,” he added.It is not clear what the declaration will change, or if it will trigger a new response from the bloc.ECOWAS has taken similar measures before, notably during the civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, though without defining them as states of emergency.
