Nigeria to send 700 troops

Nigeria will contribute 700 of the 1,676 West African troops due to be deployed along Guinea’s borders with Sierra Leone and Liberia, PANA reported on 5 January.
The troops will form the bulk of the ECOWAS Ceasefire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), which will also include contingents from Mali, Niger and Senegal, Nigerian Defence spokesman Brig-Gen Godwin Ugbo said in Abuja.
Troop-contributing countries are due to meet on Friday in Abuja to make final plans for deployment before the end of the month. PANA reported that ECOWAS Executive Secretary Lansana Kouyate had been mandated to propose a force commander ahead of the meeting to the 10-member ECOWAS Security and Mediation Council.
BBC reported Kouyate as saying that the force would operate under a strong mandate that would empower troops to protect civilians, refugees and humanitarian agencies in border areas during their six-month stint. Guinea has insisted that the force must be given the authority to strike insurgents if attacked.
The troops contributors will pay for the deployment of their men for the first three months but other ECOWAS states and donors such as Britain, France, the United States, The Netherlands and Sweden are expected to support the second half of the operation, the BBC reported.
The decision to send the troops followed attacks by unidentified armed groups said to have infiltrated Guinea from Liberia. Liberia and Guinea have often traded accusations that each supports dissidents seeking to overthrow the other’s government. Sierra Leone also accuses Liberia of backing its rebels.