West African leaders agree to create regional peacekeeping force

Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari (L), Guinea Bissau and outgoing ECOWAS President, Umaro Sissoco Embalo; President (2nd L), ECOWAS incoming president Omar Touray (2nd R) and Sierra Leone Presdient, Julius Maada Bio (R), stand during the 62nd Ordinary Session of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Authority of Heads of State and Government in Abuja on December 4, 2022. © Kola Sulaimon, AFP

West African leaders agreed on Sunday to create a regional force to intervene against jihadism and in the event of coups, a senior official said.

Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States had decided to act to "take care of our own security in the region", Omar Alieu Touray, president of the ECOWAS commission, told journalists at a summit in Nigeria.