Retired Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Dambazau, the Minister of Interior, has charged ECOWAS member states on the need for stronger regional policy on migration and security.
A statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja by Osaigbovo Ehisienmen, the Press Secretary to the minister, said Dambazau gave the advice at the closing ceremony of 2016 West Africa Conference on migration in Cote D’Ivoire.
The statement said the four-day event, which took place between August 23 and 26 in Abidjan, was chaired by Dambazau.
It said the minister admonished member states to endorse necessary measures to implement commitments to which they were signatory within the framework of ECOWAS Biometric Identity Cards and protocol on free movement.
The statement said the conference called on member states to implement decisions reached on issues relating to security, free movement, climate change, return and reintegration of migrants in the sub-region.
Thirteen ECOWAS member states and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania as well as development partners such as the EU and Switzerland participated in the conference.
