Despite Boko Haram challenge at home, Nigeria deploys 700 soldiers to Liberia on peace mission The soldiers will depart for Liberia on Friday. The Nigerian government has deployed 700 soldiers to Liberia on peace keeping mission. This was disclosed by the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 81 Division of the Nigerian Army, Tamunomieibi Dibi. Mr. Dibi, a Major-General, announced this at the graduation of the troops from Pre-deployment Training at the Nigerian Army Peace Keeping Centre (NAPKC), Jaji, in Kaduna State on Thursday. The GOC, represented by Abubakar Maikobi, a Brigadier-General, said they would depart for Liberia on Friday. The deployment is being made despite the Boko Haram insurgency in the North Eastern part of Nigeria. Thousands of Nigerian troops have been deployed to Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa to quell the insurgency. The three states have also been placed under a state of emergency since May last year. To aid the military’s efforts to quell the insurgency, the Nigerian government, last year, pulled back some of its soldiers from African peace keeping missions to join those in the country. However, despite the military’s effort in the affected states, the insurgents still carry out their terrorist acts, killing hundreds of people and burning thousands of property in 2014. Many residents and political office holders in the affected states have demanded the deployment of more soldiers and improved arms and ammunition to the areas. PREMIUM TIMES checks also indicate that a lot of the soldiers deployed to fight the insurgency are inexperienced. They were moved directly to Borno immediately after their training at the Nigerian Army Training Depot in Zaria. Many members of the troop also told this newspaper they are battle weary having remained in the mission area beyond the allowable six months. On Thursday, Mr. Dibi warned that the Nigerian Army would not accept any situation where its troops sent to Liberia would be seen as soft targets due to carelessness or cowardice. According to him, the rules of engagement in the mission have given the soldiers the latitude to exhibit bravery and fight like professional soldiers. The rules add that the soldiers protect themselves and law abiding civilians in the mission area, he said. He also urged the troops to respect the culture and religion of the people of Liberia, and reminded them of the United Nation’s zero tolerance for drug trafficking. The Commandant of NAPKC, Sanusi Muazu, a Major-General, said the troops had benefited from the mission specific training which would enable them operate under general and unique conditions obtainable in Liberia. The Commanding Officer of 192 Battalion, Mohammed Ahmed, a Lieutenant- Colonel, who is the leader of the troops to Liberia, assured his superiors that this delegation would perform its assigned task professionally.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 03:40:50 +0000
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