Lagos, Nigeria - Defence chiefs from five ECOWAS Member States are due to meet at the seat of the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, Thursday preparatory to a full meeting, PANA reported Wednesday.

The meeting, being held under the aegis of the Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CCDS), will be attended by defence chiefs from Benin, Cote d'Ivoire (participating in its capacity as new Chair), Mali, Niger and Nigeria.

According to the Commission, the meeting will prepare a 'comprehensive brief for a full CCDS meeting to be held soon'.

At their 40th Ordinary Summit in Abuja 16-17 Feb,, ECOWAS leaders instructed the Commission to convene an urgent meeting of the CCDS 'to review all the emerging security threats in the Sahel region and in the Gulf of Guinea and propose concrete recommendations to address them'.

Pana 22/02/2012