Ex-ECOMOG head denies non-payment of troops

Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Victor Malu, has denied foreign media reports that Nigeria was diverting money it received from the UN to pay its UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) contingent, PANA reported on Wednesday. Malu, speaking at a news conference in Lagos on Tuesday, said the money was “very much intact”. He said that although the UN had so far disbursed US $7.5 million to Nigeria for the payment of the country’s 3,299 UNAMSIL peacekeepers, the money had not yet been given to the soldiers as payment modalities were still being worked out, PANA reported. These modalities, he added, were linked to the changeover from ECOMOG to the UN mission which resulted in a change in the allowance payable to the Nigerians, hence the need to work out new modalities for payment. While serving under the West African peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, soldiers received US $5 a day whereas under the UN Mission they were entitled to US $30, he said. ECOMOG pulled out of Sierra Leone about 10 weeks ago, but the Economic Community of West African States plans to send another regional peacekeeping force to the country in the near future. Malu said that the US $7.5 million, which was paid in three instalments, fell short of the US $18 million due to Nigeria from the UN. He added that the outstanding amount of more than US $10 million was still expected.