Cooperation between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and other international organizations could help the bloc deter additional coups in the region, according to Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Osinbajo made the remarks following a Monday night meeting with the United Kingdom's Minister for Africa, Vicky Ford, and British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing.

"There is a lot of attention being paid to coup d'états going on, especially in the West African sub-region. I think it is important that we take a closer look at how to prevent and deter coups d’état and adventurers of various kinds who want to take over governments by force," the Nigerian vice president said.

"One of the critical things which have been discussed at various ECOWAS meetings is how to cooperate with the rest of the world, bodies such as the UN, EU and some of the Development Finance Institutions to give our sanctions more teeth," he added.

West Africa has been dogged by a wave of coups, which began in Mali in 2020, followed by another in Guinea in September 2021. Burkina Faso took the same route in January, and just a week later, gunmen also tried to overthrow the president of Guinea-Bissau in a machine-gun attack that lasted hours but failed.

"We think that if there is some cooperation at the multilateral level, we might be able to deter some of these coups," Osinbajo said.