Nigerian Army set to deploy 197 troops to Gambia for peacekeeping

The Nigerian Army is set to send 197 troops to The Gambia as part of the ECOWAS Peacekeeping Mission.

Maj.-Gen. Olufemi Akinjobi, Chief of Operations, Army Headquarters, said this on Thursday at the graduation ceremony of Nigerian Company 7, which will shortly depart for the tiny West African state.

The ceremony took place in Jaji, Kaduna State, at the Martin Luther Agwai International Leadership and Peacekeeping Centre.

It was gathered that before now, Nigeria had deployed six separate companies to The Gambia.

Akinjobi said Nigeria was committed to deploying quality peacekeepers for global peace and security.

According to reports, out of the 197 heading to The Gambia, 185 are soldiers and 12 are officers.

Akinjobi was represented by Maj.-Gen. Zakari Abubakar, Director, Peace Operations, Army Headquarters.

He explained that Nigeria had successfully participated in 40 peacekeeping missions across the globe and deployed more than 100,000 peacekeepers since 1960.

He maintained that the ECOWAS Mission in The Gambia was established as an intervention mission to resolve the constitutional crisis that followed the disputed presidential election of 2016.

The mission, he said, had helped restore peace and stability.

Earlier, Commandant of the Centre, Maj.-Gen. Auwal Fagge explained that the centre had within the last four weeks refreshed the troops on some tactical aspects of peacekeeping training.

The aspects, he said, included base camp security, patrols, cordon and search, as well as escort of VIPs, amongst others.

He enjoined the troops to be good ambassadors of Nigeria and to bring to bear what they have learnt.

He asked them to fulfill the mandate of the mission and strictly adhere to the rules of engagement.

Fagge also charged the troops to carry out their duties bearing in mind the multinational nature of the mission as well as cultural and religious diversities in the operating environment.

Recall that on April 21, the centre also deployed 173 troops to Guinea Bissau for peacekeeping mission.

(NAN)