Nigerian Army says Nigeria is committed to deploying quality peacekeepers to foster peace and security.
Chief of Operations Army headquarters, Major General Olufemi Akinjobi stated this at the graduation ceremony of Nigerian company 7 to the ECOWAS mission in Gambia, held at the Martin Luther Agwai international leadership and peacekeeping centre Jaji, Kaduna State.
Represented by Major General Zakari Abubakar, the Chief of Operations explained that Nigeria had successfully participated in forty peacekeeping missions and deployed over a hundred thousand peacekeepers since Nineteen Sixty.
He maintained that ECOWAS mission in the Gambia was established as an intervention mission to resolve the constitutional crisis after the disputed presidential election of twenty-sixteen, which had helped restore peace and stability through the professional conduct of troops.
Major General Akinjobi attributed the performance of the troops in the mission through effective pre-deployment training to provide them with essential knowledge required by all peacekeeping personnel to function effectively in any peacekeeping operations.
Earlier, Commandant of the Center, Major General Auwal Jibril Fagge explained that the centre had within the last four weeks, tried to refresh the troops on some tactical aspects of peacekeeping training like base camp security, patrols, cordon and search as well as escort of VIPs amongst others.
He charged the troops to become good ambassadors of Nigeria, bring to bear what they have learnt, fulfill the mandate of the mission and strictly adhere to the rules of engagement.
Major General Auwal Fagge also charged the troops to carryout their duties bearing in mind the multinational nature of the mission as well as cultural and religious diversities of the operating environment.
A total of twelve officers, and one hundred and eighty-five soldiers are expected to depart Nigeria for the mission in the Gambia.
It would be recalled that last week, the centre also deployed ten officers and one hundred and sixty-three contingent to Guinea Bissau for peacekeeping mission.
Usman Sani
