Nigeria to send troops to Sudan: army spokesman
LAGOS, July 1 (AFP) — Nigeria is to send troops to assist in the peace process in southern Sudan, where Africa’s longest running civil war appears to be on the brink of being resolved, an army spokesperson said on Thursday.
“The request was made by the African Union and it has been considered. We are sending a company of soldiers, about 120, to Sudan. They are currently undergoing training for the assignment,” Colonel Emeka Onwuamaegbu said.
He said the defence authorities have yet to decide whether the troops will be under the auspices of the United Nations peacekeeping mission, currently overseeing the peace process in the south of the country.
“No decision on that yet to the best of my knowledge. But it is not unlikely the troops will be under the UN,” he added.
“This is also because the issue of funding is very important. We don’t know who picks up the bill, whether it is the UN or AU,” he added.
Onwuamaegbu said Nigerian-born Brigadier General Festus Okonkwo has moved to Khartoum from Liberia to prepare the ground for the arrival of the troops.
“The general relocated to Sudan about two weeks ago,” he added.
At least 1,5-million people have been killed and more than four million displaced since the southern-based Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) launched a rebellion against the government in 1983.
UN-mediated talks on the post-war military landscape began last week between the SPLA and Khartoum, ahead of a final peace deal.
An earlier agreement outlined how Khartoum will withdraw regular soldiers from south Sudan and how troops from both sides will be integrated into a new army.
Khartoum and the SPLA have signed accords paving the way for an end to 21 years of civil war in southern Sudan and providing for a six-year transitional period before a referendum on possible secession of the south.
The deals do not affect the western Darfur region of Sudan, where a separate war has claimed at least 10 000 lives and raised the spectre of a devastating humanitarian crisis that could see up to one million die, the UN and international officials have said.
The Nigerian troops are bound for southern Sudan, although the army spokesperson said it will be up to the force commander to decide where to deploy them once they arrive in the country.