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TheEconomic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) was aWest African multilateral armed force established by theEconomic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ECOMOG was a formal arrangement for separate armies to work together. It was largely supported by personnel and resources of theNigerian Armed Forces, with sub-battalion strength units contributed by other ECOWAS members —Ghana,Guinea,Sierra Leone,The Gambia,Liberia, and others. WhileMali,Niger, andBurkina Faso being former members of ECOWAS and ECOMOG.
Nigeria and other ECOWAS members agreed to a Protocol on Mutual Defence Assistance, inFreetown, Sierra Leone, on 29 May 1981. Among other organs such as a Defence Committee and Council, it provided for the establishment of an Allied Armed Force of the Community (AAFC) as needed.
Anglophone ECOWAS members established ECOMOG in 1990 to intervene in thecivil war in Liberia (1989–97). Nigerian scholar Adekeye Adebajo wrote in 2002 that "there was merit...in the argument that the establishment of ECOMOG did not conform to the constitutional legal requirements of ECOWAS". The Standing Mediation Committee, the body that established ECOMOG at its meeting in Banjul, Gambia on 6–7 August 1990, was 'on shaky legal foundations.'[1] Adebajo concludes that the arguments used to establish ECOMOG had more solid grounds in politics than in law. The Defence Protocol's guidelines were not followed, and ECOMOG was justified largely on humanitarian grounds.
Within Africa, ECOMOG represented the first credible attempt at a regional security initiative since theOrganisation of African Unity (OAU) tried to establish an 'Inter-African Force' to intervene inChad in 1981.
Anglophone members of ECOMOG acted because severalFrancophone ECOWAS members strongly opposed the deployment.[2] The leaders ofBurkina Faso andCôte d'Ivoire supportedCharles Taylor in his attempt to deposeSamuel Doe. Unlike the typical UN mission of its day, ECOMOG's first deployment entailed fighting its way into a many-sided civil war, in an attempt to forcibly hold the warring factions apart.
The first Force Commander was Ghanaian Lieutenant GeneralArnold Quainoo, but he was succeeded by an unbroken line of Nigerian officers. Major GeneralJoshua Dogonyaro took over from Quainoo after Quainoo had left Monrovia for consultations with senior ECOWAS officials soon after the death ofSamuel Doe at the hands ofPrince Johnson'sIndependent National Patriotic Front of Liberia on 9 September 1990.[3]
After some prompting from Taylor that the anglophone Nigerians were opposed to him, Senegalese troops were brought in with some financial support from the United States.[4] Their service was, however, short-lived, after a major confrontation with Taylor forces inVahun,Lofa County on 28 May 1992, when six were killed when a crowd ofNPFL supporters surrounded their vehicle and demanded they surrender their jeep and weapons.[5] All of Senegal's 1,500 soldiers were withdrawn by mid January 1993.
Throughout the mission, corruption and organized looting by ECOMOG troops led some Liberians to re-coin the acronym ECOMOG as "Every Car or Movable Object Gone." Stephen Ellis reports one of the most egregious examples as being the total removal of iron ore processing machinery for onward sale while theBuchanan compound was under ECOMOG control.[6]
TheUnited States State Department provided some logistics support to the force via the U.S. companyPacific Architects & Engineers, which provided trucks and drivers.[7] Five Air Force C-130 Hercules also moved African troops and supplies during Operation Assured Lift in February–March 1997.[8]
Following Charles Taylor's election as President of Liberia on 19 July 1997, the final Field Commander, GeneralTimothy Shelpidi, withdrew the force fully by the end of 1998.
ECOWAS deployed ECOMOG forces later on to control conflict in other cases:
In 2001, ECOWAS planned to deploy 1,700 men along theGuinea–Liberia border to stop guerrilla infiltration by fighters opposed to the new post-1998 election government. However, fighting betweenCharles Taylor's new government and the newLURD rebel movement, plus a lack of funding, meant no force was actually ever deployed.[10]
In 2003 ECOWAS, under pressure from theUnited States, launched a similar mission namedECOMIL to halt the occupation ofMonrovia by rebel forces as peace efforts were ongoing, during theSecond Liberian Civil War.[11] Always intended as an interim force, it was quickly succeeded by theUnited Nations missionUNMIL.
Below is a chronological list of ECOMOG commanders:[12]
| Commander | Country | Title | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lt-Gen.Arnold Quainoo | Ghana | Force Commander | July 1990 - September 1990 |
| Maj-Gen.Joshua Dogonyaro | Nigeria | Field Commander | September 1990 - February 1991 |
| Maj-Gen.Rufus Kupolati | Nigeria | Field Commander | February 1991 - September 1991 |
| Maj-Gen.Ishaya Bakut | Nigeria | Field Commander | September 1991- October 1992 |
| Brig-Gen.Tunji Olurin | Nigeria | Field Commander | October 1992 - October 1993 |
| Maj-Gen.John Shagaya | Nigeria | Field Commander | October 1993 - December 1993 |
| Maj-Gen.John Mark Inienger | Nigeria | Field Commander | December 1993 - August 1996 |
| Maj-Gen.Victor Malu | Nigeria | Force Commander | August 1996 - January 1998 |
| Maj-Gen.Timothy Shelpidi | Nigeria | Force Commander | January 1998 - March 1999 |
| Maj-Gen. Felix Mujakperuo | Nigeria | Force Commander | 1999 |
| Commander | Year(s) |
|---|---|
| Major-Gen. Gabriel Kpamber | 2000 |
| Brig-Gen. Abu Ahmadu | 2000 |
| Brig-Gen.Maxwell Khobe[13][14] | 1999 |
| Major-Gen. Felix Mujakperuo | 1999 |
| Major-Gen.Abdul One Mohammed | 1998 |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
