Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Mansur Mohammed Dan Ali has said that the deployment of Nigerian Troops to Gambia was in consonance with the decision of ECOWAS unanimous decision in their meeting to use the ECOWAS Standby Force for deployment with Nigeria’s Military participation.
According to a statement by the Principal General Staff Officer (PGSO) to the minister, Brig- General Muhammed Sani Ahmed, “The aim is to implement the decision of ECOWAS leaders in upholding the result of the Presidential election held in The Gambia on the 1st of December 2016”.
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He recalled that the ECOWAS leaders led by President Muhammadu Buhari made series of spirited efforts to resolve the impasse amicably but all diplomatic efforts by the ECOWAS and other world leaders were rebuffed by outgoing President of the Gambia Haj Yahya Jammeh.
“Accordingly, in line with this, the Nigerian military will deploy its assets as part of ECOWAS standby force to protect the people of the Gambia and maintain sub regional peace and security” he said.
“Additionally, it will also protect and sustain the democratic norms in the sub-region” the Defence minister said.
END.
