The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, Leonardo Simão, raised the alarm on Wednesday in Abuja.
Simao spoke at the opening of the Regional Conference on Combating Emerging Terrorist Groups and Strengthening Sustainable Security in the ECOWAS Region and the Sahel organised by the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC).
He quoted the 2025 Global Terrorism Index as saying, “West Africa and the Sahel accounted for most fatalities in 2024”, an increase from the previous year.
According to him, among the ten countries most impacted by terrorism in the world, five are in our region.
He noted that Burkina Faso was now ranked the most terrorised country in the world, displacing Pakistan, while terrorist groups in the Sahel had become more sophisticated.
“The global terrorism landscape is shifting at an alarming rate.
“Groups are forging alliances, expanding their reach, and employing advanced technologies, such as drones, encrypted communications, and cyber tools to execute strikes with greater precision and heightened psychological impact,” he said.
Simão painted a grim picture of the human toll of insecurity, saying that in 2024 alone, 1,364 children were recruited by armed groups across six countries.
He added that 466 cases of sexual violence were documented, and 14,364 schools were shut down due to insecurity.
These numbers, according to him, represented stolen futures, fractured communities, and deepening fragility.
While acknowledging rising defence spending in the region, he cautioned that military action alone could not end the crisis.
“The Central Sahel is projected to spend 3.2 billion dollars on defence in 2025, diverting resources from education, health, and climate adaptation.
“We need a holistic approach, combining military interventions with political dialogue, improved social services, and sustainable development, paying particular attention to youth and women,” he said.
On regional efforts, Simão commended ECOWAS for its recent outreach to the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
“The achievement to preserve the free movement of goods and people shows that dialogue can still prevail, even amid profound political and security crises,” he added.
Also speaking, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Amb. Abdel-Fatau Musah, represented by Dr Cyriaque Agnekethom, said the bloc was moving to operationalise a regional anti-terrorism force.
He stressed that beyond the military option, ECOWAS was committed to suffocating the supply chains of terrorist networks.
“Only a few days ago, our Ministers of Defence and Finance agreed on funding modalities for the ECOWAS Regional Force.
“Two options are on the table, a 5,000-man brigade with a first-year cost of 2.61 billion dollars, or a phased 1,650-man force costing 481.5 million dollars.
“We must intercept and cut off weapons and ammunition, fuel, illicit funds, drugs, and dual-use items like fertilisers and batteries used to fabricate IEDs,” he said.
Musah commended Nigeria’s leadership, as well as the UN, and the AU, towards ensuring that ECOWAS citizens were protected from the menace, and community to continue to thrive.
