Olaleye Aluko and Afeez Hanafi
Nigeria soldiers will, on Wednesday
(today), arrive at a base of the Economic Community of West African
States troops in Senegal to ensure that President Yahya Jammeh of the
Gambia steps down on Thursday, January 19.
Nigerian warship, NNS UNITY, is also heading for the coast of The Gambia to join the operation.
It was gathered that apart from the NAF
and the Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Army would also contribute troops,
although the number of deployment could not yet be ascertained as of the
time of filing this report.
The source said some of the NAF fighter jets were expected to airlift the troops.
He said, “I can confirm to you that men
of the Air Force will leave for Senegal tomorrow (Wednesday). They will
be briefed by the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, at
the Kainji base in Niger State.
“That Nigeria is deploying troops is now
a certainty after several meetings with The Gambian president yielded
no result. The Chiefs of Defence Staff of ECOWAS countries came to Abuja
on Saturday, where they discussed what components each member state is
expected to contribute to the troops that will force Yahya Jammeh out.
“The troops are expected to stay for two weeks and they will be received at a base in Senegal.”
Another military source added, “The NNS Unity
is currently sailing off the coast of Ghana, after leaving from Lagos.
It is not only Nigeria. Senegal is the host country for the troops, as
it would be easy to launch an attack from there.”
The Defence Headquarters, Abuja,
however, said it could not confirm the deployments, adding that it was a
matter being coordinated by political leaders.
The Director, Defence Information, Brig.
Gen. Rabe Abubakar, said, “We should not drag the Nigerian military
into a political issue. What is happening is a political discussion
between the ECOWAS leaders, aimed at solving a political impasse in one
of its member states.
“Whatever they agreed to do is what will
happen. Therefore, the military is not for any engagement regarding
Jammeh or any other person for that matter.”
Adama Barrow of the opposition party won
the December 1, 2016, presidential election but Jammeh, who initially
conceded defeat by congratulating Barrow, made a U-turn a week later,
saying he would challenge the results.
Despite interventions by the African Union and ECOWAS, Jammeh insisted he would not hand over power to Barrow.
This stance informed the decision of the
leaders to withdraw their recognition for Jammeh as the Gambian
president after Thursday.
Meanwhile, Jammeh, on Tuesday, declared a 90-day state of emergency 24 hours to the end of his tenure.
He warned security forces against
violating the order or engaging in acts likely to cause a breach of the
peace, and denounced “foreign interference in The Gambia’s election.”
The declaration of a state of emergency
by the embattled President followed a rejection of his injunction to
stop Barrow’s inauguration by the Gambian Chief Justice, Emmanuel
Fagbenle, on Monday.
In a televised announcement on Tuesday,
Jammeh said, “Any acts of disobedience to the laws of the Gambia,
incitement of violence and acts intended to disturb public order and
peace are banned under the state of emergency.”
He directed security forces to “maintain absolute peace, law and order.”
Barrow is currently in Senegal and due
to security fears, he was unable to attend the funeral of his
eight-year-old son, who died on Monday after a dog bite.
Culled from Punch
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