The regional initiative is a 5-year flagship project jointly funded by ECOWAS and the Federal Republic of Germany to train security personnel of member states to curb the threat posed by weapons and ammunition that undermines the advancement of West Africa.
The week-long capacity building training for men and women in uniform brought together participants from ECOWAS Member States to enhance their capacity on weapons and ammunition physical security and stockpile management.
Ahoba Joseph, representative of ECOWAS Commission explained the need to build the competence of armed personnel in a bid to avoid explosions within the sub-region.
"The project focuses on protecting the sub region by preventing the illicit usage of weapons and ammunition, hence the necessity to strengthen the resilience of the security of the region," he said.
Lt. Col Kermes, representative of the Multinational Small Arms and Ammunition Group highlighted the significant role of peace instructors both at local and regional levels.
"Since 2018, the initiative has trained 160 personnel across the 15 security forces of the ECOWAS Member States, out of which 10 were certified as senior instructors and 14 others trained as sub regional instructors," he added.
Lt. Col Okun, senior instructor of the ECOWAS Physical Security and Stockpile Management Programme dilated on the impact the training has had on him.
Facilitators and trainees were awarded certificates of participation at the end of the training.
