On Sunday, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, raised the alarm that the expulsion of foreign fighters in Libya, as part of a UN resolution, may worsen militancy and terrorism in West Africa, the Sahel, and Lake Chad region. He also had linked the civil war in Libya to the emergence of insurgency in the Sahel region and Nigeria.
In his speech at the 59th Ordinary session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS in Accra, Ghana; Buhari said it was important that fighters be disarmed first and insisted that the expulsion must be done in collaboration with regional stakeholders. He accused the United Nations of not adequately engaging neighbouring countries to deal with these non-state actors.
“On the security situation in the region, our organisation must note with serious concern, the recent decision by the United Nations and its Resolution to expel all foreign fighters in Libya, without first, ensuring that they are disarmed and that neighbouring countries and the sub-regions were engaged, to put in place modalities for containing or managing the movement of these fighters.
Buhari stated that although the UN is hoping to secure peace in Libya, it has created newer threats to the continent. “While this action was aimed at bringing about sustenance of peace in Libya, non-collaboration with regional stakeholders on this critical decision, has now created newer threats to peace, security and stability in the region,” he said.
He further maintained that this could lead to a lack of coordinated management of huge humanitarian crises across the Sahel, North, Central, and West Africa, including the Lake Chad region.