More Nigerian
Troops Leaves For Darfur
Nigeria
has assigned more troops to the peacekeeping mission in Darfur,
Sudan. They left the Nigerian Air force hangar at the Murtala
Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on a C-130 Hercules
aircraft on Monday.
Nigeria’s bold
move to raise its peacekeeping force in Darfur comes a few days
after the burial of some Nigerian soldiers killed in an attack
by rebels in Darfur last week. The gallant soldiers were buried
with full military honour at the National Cemetery in Abuja, the
capital.
Heroic
The contingent,
undaunted by Nigeria’s recent casualties said they looked
forward to their mission, being their constitutional duty of
territorial defence and peace-keeping in Africa. They said that
the death of the seven soldiers in Darfur had only invigorated
them.
The General
Officer Commanding 81 Division of the Nigerian Army,
Major-General Azubuike Ihejirika said the troops, numbering
about seven hundred, were the first set of troops from Badagry
unit, a border town between Nigeria and Benin Republic.
He stated that
the Army could not be discouraged with the death of the Nigerian
soldiers, stressing that “peace was the ultimate reason for
the establishment of the armed forces and in the present
global setting, peace support operations have assumed the
primary role of the armed forces."
Solving
Darfur Crisis
The Sudanese
government is insisting that only the strict implementation of
the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) can bring normalcy back
to the area.
The Sudanese
News Agency, SUNA, at the weekend quoted the country's Foreign
Affairs Minister of State, Al Samani Al-Wasiylah, as saying that
if all dissenting groups could be made to "face the CPA
squarely," it would be the beginning of the entrenchment of
lasting peace in Darfur.
NP/QA/MIA
