The announcement was made by the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray, during the 55th ministerial session of the Mediation and Security Council in Abuja on Tuesday, December 9.
Touray told ministers and diplomats that West Africa is now exposed to an average high-risk rating across member states.
He cited a combination of military interventions, fragile transitions, shrinking political inclusivity, and expanding threats from terrorists and criminal networks.
“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,” he said.
He added that elections have become a major trigger of unrest in several states and warned that external geopolitical pressures are worsening internal vulnerabilities.
Why a state of emergency?
Calling the situation unprecedented, Touray said it was now “safe to declare that our community is in a state of emergency.”
He urged ministers to hold more frequent meetings over the next year and to pool national resources to confront terrorism, banditry, and cross-border crime.
Touray also drew attention to the region’s worsening humanitarian crisis. Citing recent UNHCR figures, he noted that about 7.6 million people are forcibly displaced across West Africa, including more than 6.5 million internally displaced persons, with the largest populations in Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali.
Despite the grim assessment, he reaffirmed ECOWAS’s commitment to its citizens and urged member states to uphold constitutional norms and safeguard unity.
Sierra Leone’s Foreign Minister and Chair of the Council of Ministers, Timothy Kabba, echoed the alarm.
Kabba, who recently led a mediation mission to Bissau, insisted that ECOWAS “cannot and will not accept this development,” adding that citizens expect “seriousness, unity and purpose.”
Heads of state will now consider the Council’s recommendations amid mounting pressure for decisive regional action.
