Nigeria’s Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, joined other Chiefs of the Naval Staff at the Fifth Meeting of ECOWAS Sub-Committee of Chiefs of the Naval Staff held in Accra, Ghana from February 16 – 20, 2026.
The primary aim of the summit was the establishment of the legal status of the staff who have been deployed to the ECOWAS Maritime Centres. Other key items on the agenda include the implementation of the recommendations from the 4th meeting in Cabo Verde, framework for the Combined Maritime Task Force in the Gulf of Guinea, updates on joint maritime operations, status of the staff who have been deployed, and country presentations on maritime security.
The Naval Chiefs were joined by the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security (ECOWAS-CPAPS), Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, Directors of the West Africa regional Maritime Security Centre and the Multinational Maritime Coordination Centres (MMCC) Zones E, F and G. Other attendees include the representatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the European Union-African Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Commander of the Combined Maritime Task Force (CMTF).
At the meeting, the ECOWAS-CPAPS applauded the progress made since the adoption of the ECOWAS Integrated Maritime Strategy, with the conduct of Operation SAFE DOMAIN in Zone E, Operation ANOUANZE in Zone F, and Joint Maritime Patrols in MMCC Zone G.
He underscored the need for broader security cooperation to address terrorism, drug trafficking, and illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing, emphasising the need for better coordination with landlocked countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to address terrorism and other Transnational Organised Crime.
The Commissioner acknowledged Nigeria’s sophisticated FALCON EYE Surveillance system and leadership in the fight against maritime criminality in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG). He further urged the meeting to devise steps to address the receding water levels in the Lake Chad Basin.
In line with the Committee of the Chiefs of Defence Staff approval to operationalise the CMTF through a coalition of ready nations, 5 countries expressed interest in joining Nigeria. They include Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
The flag-off of the CMTF is scheduled to take place in Lagos from May 31 to June 1, 2026.
The meeting praised Nigeria’s actions as the host country of the CMTF, noting its support for the launch of the CMTF by designating 3 ships, 1 helicopter, 8 vehicles, and a temporary furnished office in Lagos.
The CMTF is expected to be a ready-to-deploy force capable of rapid, coordinated regional maritime security responses, leveraging information from maritime centres within the Yaounde Architecture to address the growing, complex security threats in the GoG.
The Chief of the Naval Staff’s strategic engagements at the meeting reaffirm Nigeria’s role as a key player in maritime security in the region, especially with the secured commitments from willing navies to join the CMTF.
His unwavering commitment to collaborating with partner navies under the Yaoundé Code of Conduct is expected to enhance regional coordination, promote the exchange of best practices, and help develop an African-led solution for a more effective collective response to maritime threats in the GoG and across West Africa’s maritime domain.
Earlier, Dr. Abdel-Fatau Musah, who represented the President of the Commission, Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, and opened deliberations of the security chiefs told JoyNews that the meeting is occasioned by the decision of ECOWAS to progressively operationalize its security architecture as it is supposed to protect our maritime domain, water bodies, the Gulf of Guinea and some of the lakes and rivers in our region.
“There are a whole lot of developments as far as the protection of our maritime domain is concerned. We’ve set up the regional maritime architecture. They are supposed to be the centers for monitoring our maritime domain and it is still under (0:20) operationalization. So this meeting is going to discuss how to strengthen that architecture,” he said.
He further explained that West Africa’s maritime architecture includes the Sahel and the coastal countries hence given the situation in that part of the region, there delineations will focus on how to enhance collaboration with neighbors in the Sahel in order to link them because their import-export trade goes through coastal West Africa.
Ahead of the commencement of the summit a four-member delegation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), led by Director of Peacekeeping and Regional Security, Dr Cyriaque Agnekethom, paid a courtesy call on the Ghana Navy Headquarters aimed at strengthening regional coordination, encourage the exchange of best practices, and improve collective responses to maritime threats in the Gulf of Guinea and across West Africa’s maritime domain.
During the visit, Dr Agnekethom highlighted the Sub-Committee’s achievements and ongoing efforts to deepen regional maritime cooperation.
He commended the Ghana Navy for its contributions and thanked it for its continued leadership and active role in joint regional initiatives.
