By Augustine Ehikioya
With the worsening crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Counter-Terrorism Expert, David Otto, has called for urgent activation of the African Union (AU) Standby Force.
According to him, its activation is long overdue to play its role in keeping peace and security in the continent.
David Otto spoke through Zoom platform during Security Watch Africa (SWA) Programme on the Africa Independent Television (AIT) anchored by its President/CEO, Mr. Patrick Agbambu.
He regretted that efforts by other bodies and countries, like the Southern Africa, to step into the matter have not yielded the desired result.
Otto said “It is very necessary. It’s high time that we have an African standby force that protects the territorial integrity of its members. And this is one of the reasons that we lost literally, three members of the ECOWAS talking about Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali.
“Because they accused not just ECOWAS, but the African Union of not intervening when they were experiencing the influx of non state actors, attacks from terrorist organizations within their country, and they were saying that the ECOWAS was silent, but only heard a voice when there was a military coup de tate in response to the insecurity.
“So I think it’s quite important that the African Union actually looks into activating a standby force in this kind of scenario, it’s very, very concerning.”
He pointed out that the conflict has been going on since the genocide and with already more than 100 rebel groups operating in the region and benefiting hugely from the Minerals deposits in the area.
According to him, it will not be possible in the long term, for the DRC Congo to sit back and allow rebels to take control of its territory.
In the process of protecting its territory, Otto warned that there would be more blood bath at some point, as no country in the world would allow its territory to be taken by non state actors.
He also warned that the situation in the DRC is really getting out of hand resulting in accusations and counter-accusations by the parties involved in the conflict.
The Counter-Terrorism expert said “Now, again, the big question is who actually a terrorist? I mean, the reason why I’m saying this is because the M 23 rebels, you know, we’re having, actually a meeting with the locals where one of the leaders of the Congo River, Allen, was about making a speech about consolidation. And there was an IED explosion, about two exploded and killed a number of people, and they the M 23 rebels accused the government of Kinshasa, which is the government of the DRC Congo, of being a terrorist government.
“On the other side, the government also accused them of being a terrorist. So it’s a very concerning issue, considering the fact that it has regional implications. DRC Congo is surrounded by countries like Burundi, Uganda, Angola, but also Rwanda itself, just like we have in the Lake Chad basin. So it’s a major concern. I think we should keep very close eye on what is going on there.” he added
He faulted the decision by Niger Republic, Burkina Faso and Mali not to recognize and allow ECOWAS passport holders access to the their countries.
“This is what we call the second order effect. When you make decisions, you know, as a result of an action, then you have what we call the unintended consequence.
“And I believe that decisions of this nature, in terms of not allowing member states with ECOWAS passport free entrance into into their country, you know, these are decisions that divide the continent further. Africa, you know, can only be a stable continent.
“Each African nation can only be a sovereign state if it works with other member states. We are talking about a time when we should be promoting the free movement of people between one country to another, we should be talking about the borderless Africa, whereby you can travel to any African country.
“So I think it’s as a result of a reaction by these three countries who accused ECOWAS of, you know, not respecting their sovereignty. The people also accused ECOWAS of working with foreign countries to destabilize their country. These are all frustrations.
“But I think, there is still the huge room, despite these countries claiming that they’ve now left officially the ECOWAS regional block, I think there is still a huge room for further negotiations.
“What we want as a continent is not to isolate other members. It leaves a huge gap in the national and regional security. And I don’t think, for example, it will be good news for Nigeria to have countries like Niger, saying that they don’t want Nigerians coming into Niger. I mean, it’s not an African thing.
“For the purpose of prosperity, for sustainability of security within the region, there is still room for negotiations, and I think these members will negotiate once there is an outlet, and I’m sure that ECOWAS is working on that.” he stated
Mr. Otto used the opportunity to thank Security Watch Africa for doing a great job in the continent by ensuring safe and secure communities through its information to the general population on some of the challenges.