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Nigeria announces deployment of troops to Gambia

Xinhua, January 19, 2017 Adjust font size:

The Nigerian government Wednesday deployed troops and fighter jets to Gambia, as part of the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) mandate to enforce the Dec. 1, 2016 election result in the West African country.

Spokesperson for the Nigerian Air Force, Ayodele Famuyiwa, said in a statement reaching Xinhua that the contingent for the Gambia operation were air lifted from the 117 Air Combat Training Group Kainji, in Niger state, to be on standby in Dakar, Senegal.

The troops airlifted in an Hercules C-130 transport plane included combat support group, technicians, special forces, and medical personnel.

Other platforms also deployed to Gambia are fighter jets, helicopters gunships, and a Hercules C-130 among others.

The regional bloc and the African Union (AU) plan to force President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia out of office and install the president-elect Adama Barrow.

The 51-year-old Jammeh refused to accept the result of the Dec. 1 election, which saw him lose power to Barrow, a real estate mogul little known before his candidacy.

Barrow, who is scheduled to be sworn in as president on Thursday, fled Gambia to the Senegalese capital, Dakar, amid fears of violence on Saturday.

Senegalese President Macky Sall had accepted to host Barrow at the request of the ECOWAS after repeated attempts failed to convince Jammeh to cede power. Endit