CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF URGES ECOWAS DEFENCE CHIEFS TO UPHOLD DEMOCRATIC VALUES

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General CHRISTOPHER MUSA, has charged ECOWAS Defense Chiefs to always uphold democratic values.

 General MUSA, who gave the charge yesterdayat the 42nd Ordinary Meeting of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff in Abuja,lamented military takeover in some West African countries, saying it has created unintended consequences and threatened democratic values in the region.

 He also stressed the need to put an end to the threat of military takeover, which according to him negates the core values and responsibilities of the military profession.

 In their separate speeches, the Minister of Defence, MOHAMMED ABUBAKAR; and his Foreign Affairs counterpart, YUSUF TUGGAR; challenged the service chiefs from the regional bloc to tackle terrorism through effective collaboration to combat illicit movement of small arms and light weapons in West African sub-region.

 The meeting which had  regional security as one of its agenda, had in attendance, defence chiefs from different West African countries, expect those of Cape Verde, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Guinea, Guinea Bissau and Togo.