[size=16pt]Nigerian police contingent survives Haiti quake
By Ayo Okulaja
January 19, 2010 02:23AM
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The 121-member contingent of the Nigerian Police Force presently serving on a United Nations Peace Keeping Mission in Haiti survived the devastating earthquake that rocked Haiti last Wednesday, NEXT has learnt.

The deputy force public relations officer, Yemi Ajayi,

said in an exclusive interview on Monday that “nobody amongst our police officers in Haiti suffered any injury or was amongst the casualty of the earthquake.” “We have a Force Police Unit (FPU) of 121 contingents with the UN Peace keeping mission serving in Port-au-prince (the Haitian capital city) and no single soul was lost from the Nigerian contingents,” Mr. Ajayi disclosed. “The contingent commander communicated with the Inspector General of Police and the United Nations also confirmed it to us that we did not lose any life in the unfortunate disaster.” He said the Nigerian contingents were situated in some of the few areas of Port-au-Prince that were not affected by the earthquake.

A 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti, last Tuesday, destroying the capital and parts of the country, leading to a casualty figure numbering close to 200,000 lives, according to the UN. Rescue efforts to find survivors amongst the rubbles are ongoing, seven days after the quake hit the Caribbean Island nation.

“The FPU is currently playing a major role in the ongoing rescue and relief efforts in Haiti,” Mr. Ajayi said. The FPU are equivalent of the mobile police officers that operate in Nigeria.

Admirable force

Nigeria’s strong tie with the UN peace keeping mission in the Caribbean Island was brought to bear in a recent article by the Inspector General (IG) of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, published by NEXT. Mr. Onovo said [size=16pt]“the nation’s image was bolstered when he, in 2008 in New York, led the Nigerian delegation to receive a coveted United Nations prize for the heroic performance of our officers in Haiti.” The IGP, who praised the sterling role the Nigeria Police play in peace keeping missions abroad, said “the Nigeria Police Force is reputed globally for excellence in international assignments, it has won admiration as perhaps the best police in the world. It has habitually won the most prestigious prizes for peacekeeping operations in Namibia, former Yugoslavia, Liberia, and Haiti, amongst other nations.”[/size]

Forty-six UN personnel are now confirmed dead in the Haiti quake and more than 500 are missing or unaccounted for, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said Monday.

Speaking to reporters after briefing the Security Council on his six-hour visit to the devastated Haitian capital on Sunday, the UN chief, Ban Ki-moon also on Monday, said he had recommended that the UN mission should be beefed up with an extra 2,000 troops and 1,500 police to boost the strength of the UN’s battered mission in quake-hit Haiti.
http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/World/Disasters/5513514-146/story.csp

amazing.

A girl was rescued yesterday who had a Nigerian sounding name though I dont know if she actually was Nigerian.

yea it really is. .i wonder why there has been not more comment on this issue
those guys are doing us proud. .and nigerians should b a little grateful