By Linus Aleke, Abuja
The Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), on Tuesday, bemoaned the rising cases of security threats, as well as the embarrassing humanitarian crisis in the sub-region.

The President of the Commission, Dr. Jean Claude Kassi-Brou made this lamentationsixty-one while presenting the 2022 Interim Report on the State of the Community to the ECOWAS Parliament, at its ongoing 2021 First Ordinary Session, in Abuja.

He said that the number of incidents of terrorist attacks and fatalities has continued to escalate.

Dr. Kassi-Brou revealed that from 2018 to the first quarter of 2022, the figures for terrorist attacks and fatalities have progressively increased.

According to him, “there were two hundred and sixty-one (261), incidents of terrorist attacks in the region with one thousand two hundred and ninety-eight (1,298), fatalities in 2018. In 2019, it increased to three hundred and eleven (311), incidents with two thousand, one hundred and fifty-nine (2,159), fatalities. In 2020, it escalated to eight hundred and thirty-three (833), incidents with two thousand, one hundred and thirty-seven (2,137), fatalities. In 2021, the incidents again increased to two thousand, three hundred and fifty-nine (2,359) incidents, with five thousand, one hundred and seventy-nine (5,179), fatalities”.

The President of the Commission added that from January to April 2022, the incidents of terrorist attacks in the sub region stood at one thousand, fifty one (1,051), while the numbers of fatalities are two thousand, one hundred and thirty five (2,135).

On humanitarian crisis, he said, the number of refuges and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), in ECOWAS member states as at 31 December 2020, were four hundred and thirty five thousand, one hundred and fifty eight (435,158), refugees, and four million, four hundred thousand, two hundred and eighty seven (4,400,287), Internally Displaced Persons.

Nigeria he said, tops the chat with over two million (IDPs), and no fewer than sixty six thousand refugees as at the last day of December 2020.

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The President of the Commission also noted that Niger Republic and Burkina Faso trailed behind Nigeria with 20,250, and 233,131 refugees as well as 1,074,993 and 298,458 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), respectively.

“As at 28 February 2022, Nigeria wss still toping the chat with 3,184,058 IDPs and 80,591 refugees.The total of IDPs in West Africa as at 28 February 2022, according to ECOWAS Commission, are 5,540,080, while the sum total of refugees stood at 483,687,” he further revealed.

The President also said the improvement in Maritime Security within the period under review led to the removal of Nigeria from Piracy List Hotspot of International Martine Bureau (IMB).

He said that West Regional Maritime Security Centre (CRESMAO), was inaugurated in March 2022 to improve maritime security.

Noting that implementation of Regional Action Plan remains a high level priority, Dr. Kassi-Brou concluded that resource mobilization remains key.