Abuja - Nigeria — A summit of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government is being planned in the first quarter of 2012 to get the political support of regional leaders behind West Africa's effort to combat the menace of piracy in a holistic manner, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency James Victor Gbeho said on Friday, 18th November 2011. "Piracy is not a new thing but has recently assumed unacceptable proportions mainly because of unsatisfactory social conditions," the President told a seven-member multi-disciplinary UN mission on a visit to West Africa to discuss UN support to regional efforts at addressing the scourge.

While President Gbeho acknowledged the validity of existing bilateral arrangements between Member States in confronting the problem such as the one between Benin and Nigeria, he explained that concerted action among the states was preferable because of its impact on the regional economy and the intensity of the problem. In this regard, he stressed the imperative of cooperation and coordination among Member States. The UN Security Council in October 2011 adopted Resolution 2018 which among other things encouraged ECOWAS Member States, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) to coordinate their action against piracy and banditry at sea. ECOWAS has since April this year been working on regional initiatives to combat the increasing incidents of piracy and also coordinating with neighouring ECCAS member states in this regard. A meeting of the sub-committee of the regional committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff is due to meet next week in Cotonou, Benin Republic to propose additional mechanisms to strengthen the region's response. President Gbeho described piracy as an 'unnecessary distraction' at this time when the region is working to harness its resources for development. He attributed the problem partly to poverty, youth unemployment, deterioration of law and order, all of which are exacerbated by the economic and political situations in parts of the region.

The leader of the UN Joint Inter-Agency Assessment Mission, Mr. Sammy Buo praised ECOWAS for its initiatives to confront piracy in the region and stressed the need for partnerships citing the ongoing effort for an MOU between ECOWAS and ECCAS as the preferred approach. He said that in the aftermath of Resolution 2018, the UN was waiting for ECOWAS, ECCAS and the GGC to take steps that will guide the world body in determining the next steps in the war against piracy, drug and human trafficking. The mission is also to determine measures to respond to the request by President Boni Yayi of Benin for UN support for a comprehensive integrated national response against piracy, trans-national crime and drug trafficking.