ECOWAS military mission in The Gambia extended for another three-months

The dictator, Yahya Jammeh has fled The Gambia and gone into exile in the Equatorial Guinea, after the Economic Commission of West African States Mission in The Gambia (ECOMIG) troops entered the country following a political stalemate after elections on December 1, 2016 to restore what was described as ‘the will of the people,’ as Jammeh rejected the results.

Winner of the election Adama Barrow has returned to the country and would be inaugurated soon, but the soldiers serving with ECOMIG are not leaving anytime soon.

President Barrow had said, he would require the troops to stay for an additional six months, but he has today extended ECOMIG’s stay into the country for another three months.

“President Barrow is glad to inform the general public that the standby force ECOMIG has integrated itself into the security and military fabric of the country,” a statement from the office of the president said.

“The Standby Force has had its mandate extended by three months subject to renewal,” it added.

The Mission is made up of troops from Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo and Mali.

While it’s difficult to ascertain the exact number of troops contributed by each of these countries, Ghana has 205 and Nigeria contributed 200 troops with equipment.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi