Lawrence Olaoye, Abuja 
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has called for support for the African Union (AU) and ECOWAS from the international community for rejecting coups on the continent.
Osinbajo made the call on Tuesday when he received a delegation from the Network of African Parliamentarians for Defence and Security Committees who are in Nigeria for the group’s 7th extraordinary session, at the Presidential Villa. According to a release by his spokesman, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo said “I think the work that you are doing is one that is very important indeed.
We have seen insurgencies in the Sahel, in our part of the country and the whole of Africa. Since 2017, (more than) 12 coups in Africa, that is terrible, especially when we thought that we have recovered from the era of coup d’état, all of a sudden, we find a rash of coups here and there.
“But I am glad that the sub-regional response here in West Africa, and the AU have been strong, forthright, united and we have all condemned coup d’états and have taken positive actions against coup d’états.
We have introduced sanctions, we have reached out to other international organisations, to countries in the global north, and we have insisted that they must join us in saying no to coups and undemocratic governments. And I think that your work has given a lot of fillip to the work that the executives all over the continent are doing.”
Commenting on the challenge of insecurity in the continent, Osinbajo said defence collaboration and information sharing among African countries must be accorded priority. He pointed out that security remained both locally and an international issue which transcends regional and sub-regional borders.
