ABUJA Nigeria, west Africa’s regional powerhouse, will deploy troops to Guinea-Bissau this week, Defence Minister Bello Haliru Mohammed said on Monday at a meeting of ECOWAS defence chiefs.

-A Cross Section of ECOWAS Chief of Defence Staff during their meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan today Monday at the State House in Abuja

“I will like to announce to you that the pledges made by Nigeria for the Guinea-Bissau and Mali mission, we are committed to them and our troops are ready. In Guinea-Bissau, we will deploy before the 18th of this month,” he said.

He told newsmen that the Nigerian troops would complement the one battalion of military peace-keepers which the ECOWAS is sending to the West African country.

Mohammed made the declaration after a meeting held between President Goodluck Jonathan and ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff.

“As you know our sub-region is plagued with challenges of insecurity and also instability in some of the countries.

“The CDS (Chiefs of Defence Staff) are here to discuss how the intervention of ECOWAS will help to bring security and to stabilise the country where instability is rearing its head, this is on the instruction of the Head of States of the ECOWAS.

“On Guinea Bissau, a decision is already made that a military contingent from the ECOWAS will be sent to assist the government in maintaining law and order.

“Nigeria, as a leading member of ECOWAS, will participate when invited.

“The ECOWAS is sending one battalion but the contribution of Nigeria depends on when we are invited.

The minister said that ECOWAS was yet to take decision on whether it would send troops to another troubled member state, Mali.

He said that the meeting with the president was on the challenges of insecurity and instability in the two ECOWAS member states.

Speaking in the same vein, the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshall Oluseyi Petinrrin, said the military was prepared for the assignment anytime an invitation was received.

“The decision to send troops will be made by government. Our job is to be prepared so that when they decide to deploy we will be ready.

“And, it is possible they have decided, but have not announced it,’’ he said.

Petinrin said that with the intervention of ECOWAS, a lot of progress had been made in resolving the political crises in the two countries.

“Right now, we have constitutional order; the two countries are no longer been headed by military people because they were told in certain terms that it will not be accepted and they have stepped down in both countries.’’

Following respective coup d’états in Mali and Guinea Bissau, ECOWAS and other international organisations took steps to restore democratic order in both countries.

ECOWAS imposed sanctions on the respective junta to ensure compliance to its protocols on zero tolerance for military rule.

At the extra-ordinary meeting of ECOWAS in Dakar on May 3, President Jonathan recommended stiffer sanction for the military junta for their failure to accede to the demands of the sub-regional bloc.

Jonathan urged ECOWAS to take stringent decisions in accordance with its avowed commitment to the cause of democracy and constitutionality.(AFP & NAN)

virgo: Nigeria and misplaced priorities. We need to put our house in order first before running around to fix the problems of other countries. We are taking this big brother thing too seriously.

virgo: Nigeria and misplaced priorities. We need to put our house in order first before running around to fix the problems of other countries. We are taking this big brother thing too seriously.

LeoMax: My dear, Nigeria is bound by ECOWAS treaty which she is a member state. Stop making statements like that. Without stopping a war in Mali and Guinea Bissau, where do you think those Russian AK47, MPMG, SMG and IEs will end up ?

LeoMax: My dear, Nigeria is bound by ECOWAS treaty which she is a member state. Stop making statements like that. Without stopping a war in Mali and Guinea Bissau, where do you think those Russian AK47, MPMG, SMG and IEs will end up ?

virgo:

My darling, there is something called opinion. Ever heard of it? Ecowas treaty or not, I do not think we have the capacity to keep interfering with the politics or affairs of other African nations. We need to re-evaluate our foreign policy. Nigerians first before anything else. Playing West African police does very little for millions of Nigerians living in fear of terrorist attacks. The AK47s, MPMGs, SMGs and IEs have somehow managed to find their way past our porous borders even before Guinea Bissau and Mali. Besides, we have sacrificed enough. From Sierra Leone to Zimbabwe, South Africa, Liberia and everywhere on the continent, we have flexed our diplomatic and military muscle. We simply do not have it anymore. Big brother is being beaten senseless in his own home, time to drag his tired bottom back home to fix things. And oh, by the way, I am a patriot.

godello: God punish our leaders for doing eye services.

LeoMax: My dear, Nigeria is bound by ECOWAS treaty which she is a member state. Stop making statements like that. Without stopping a war in Mali and Guinea Bissau, where do you think those Russian AK47, MPMG, SMG and IEs will end up ?

solomon111: Interesting!
I think we need more women in this section,if not for anything, for a breath of fresh air.

patriot2: You better mind what you are saying, you i.diot ! If you said that to my face I would beat the hell out of you, bloody sun of a b.itch.

haka_nai:

^^^ chairman the listed items are already in Nigeria.Also they are in the wrong hands.We need to stay home and clean our society of the users and the items illegally causing peoples life.What treaty may i ask? Na for our head treaty start or end?Abeg forget that thing!Even Ghana systematically avoided re-enforce her presence in Ivory-coast.So why we dey worry.Simple tell ECOWAS,una no dey watch aljazeera?We need to tackle our security challenges too.Only after that can we send support to you.

DaRapture: This is stupid. Nigeria needs to deploy troops to resolve the problem they have bubbling right in their own nation, and the nation they need to deploy them to is Niger and and Chad, which are the nations where many of these BH members are coming from and are being trained. But the Nigerian government is too Gutless to deploy into a bordering nation.

haka_nai: ^^^^ i always pray that the government has not ignore strategy and mobilized a enough offensive military units and arsenal to invade chad and Niger.Positioned in the NE of this country.Not to invade chad or Niger but to serve as deterrent on so many fronts eg. Before rogue groups like the taureg people of Niger will act part 2 of Mali in this country o!Lastly it must be clear that if you hit.you won't last a day.Because this one boko-haram as they take hijack Kano for almost a day,repeat same for Yobe,Borno,Bauchi etc. It is possible they are testing the waters.The day they decide to launch an offensive on multiple fronts.Occupying several states,with there suicidal tendencies it may be a awhile to dislodge them.Talk of causalities.So i say keep a strong response armed force.Add rapid to that. Thats why all new peace keeping quest should be set aside until that is resolved.