The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), yesterday, said
it has deployed a contingent of 200 men and air assets, to Dakar, from
where it is expected operate into The Gambia.
Other platforms deployed to
Dakar, as part of Nigerian contingent of Economic Community of West African
States Military Intervention in Gambia (ECOMIG), include fighter jets,
transport aircraft, Light Utility Helicopter as well as Intelligence,
Surveillance and Reconnaissance aircraft.
The Director of Public
Relations and Information, Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa, who made this known,
said the NAF contingent, led by Air Commodore Tajudeen Yusuf, was airlifted
yesterday morning from the 117 Air Combat Training Group, Kainji.
He listed other countries that have deployed troops to
Gambia, to forestall hostilities or breakdown of law and order that may result
from the current political impasse there, to include Senegal, Ghana and
countries within the sub-region.
Famuyiwa, in a statement, said the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air
Marshall Sadiq Abubakar, while addressing members of the contingent
shortly before their departure, urged them to be disciplined and
professional in their conduct. Abubakar warned that no act of indiscipline
by the contingent would be tolerated and charged them to be good
ambassadors of Nigeria.
The NAF spokesman, in the statement, said “The Nigerian Air
Force (NAF) has deployed to Senegal, as part of Nigerian contingent of Economic
Community of West African States Military Intervention in The Gambia (ECOMIG) –
a standby force tasked by ECOWAS Heads of State to enforce the December 1, 2016
election mandate in the The Gambia.
“NAF, today, moved a contingent of 200 men and air assets
comprising fighter jets, transport aircraft, Light Utility Helicopter as well
as Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance aircraft to Dakar from where
it is expected to operate into Gambia.
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“The deployment is also to forestall
hostilities or breakdown of law and order that may result from the current
political impasse in The Gambia.”
Meanwhile, Nigerian lawyers, yesterday, were unanimous in
condemning the three months extension of the tenure of the Gambia President,
Yahya Jammeh, by the parliament, describing it as illegal, unjust and patently
unconstitutional.
The lawyers expressed their support for the use of force to
evict Jammeh from office, if the need arises.
The chairman, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja branch, Dele
Oloke, while reacting to the development, said: “Although, I have not seen the
constitution of the country, I want to say that it would be ultra vires of the
power of The Gambia’s parliament to arbitrarily extend the constitutionally
fixed tenure of the president.
“I want to believe that The Gambia as a member of African Union
(AU) practicing constitutional democracy, could not have allowed such obnoxious
provisions in their constitution.
“There is no basis for such an unlawful extension. The election
has been conducted, and a winner emerged and the president conceded defeat. So,
such purported extension would be patently illegal and most unreasonable.”
Dele Oloke also supported the possible use of force to evict
Jammeh from office.
“We have more than enough Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS) to
contend with in the region. We can’t afford to increase the number of IDP
camps. Everything necessary, including the use of force must be used to nib it
in the bud. An injury to one is an injury to all,” Oloke said.
Rights activist and legal practitioner, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa
said the action of the National Assembly of the Gambia was totally at
variance with the tenets of democracy.
“At this point in time, it is morally and legally wrong for them
to extend the tenure of their president after conducting an election, which did
not favour him. Their action is not in the interest of the masses; it shows how
dubious they are.
“Election was conducted, and there was a winner and nobody
faulted the process in which the winner emerged. The action of the Gambia’s
National Assembly at this point amounts to annulling the election, denying the
citizens of their free mandate given to the president elect,” he said.
On the use force by ECOWAS to evict Jammeh, the rights activist
said he did not see anything wrong with that, but did not consider it legally
and constitutionally right because “it is an internal crises of the country.
The Gambia is a
sovereign state, and there should be a way to settle their
internal crises without external interference.”
Also Chairman, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR),
Malachy Ugwummadu said the action of The Gambia’s National Assembly was
evidence that the legislative arm of government in that country was not
independent.
He said amending the constitution of the country to favour the
current president was an abuse of power.
“What has been going on in the country is one-man-show; the
legislators could not give a tangible reason why the constitution was amended
overnight; all they did was for their selfish interests. With this, it is very
clear there were no checks and balances within the arms of government,”
Ugwummadu aded.
According to a law lecturer at the University of Lagos, Wahab
Shittu, “The extension of tenure by The Gambia National Assembly is
unconstitutional, ultra vires, null and void and illegal. It is a subversion of
democracy. Jammeh lost an election and should vacate the office. His holding on
to power outside the statutory provisions is a threat to the regional peace;
and ECOWAS, as a regional body under the principle of being your brother’s
keeper, has a duty to intervene in the interest of peace.”
The Publicity Secretary of NBA, Lagos, Emeka Nwadioke, said: “Yahya
Jammeh is the architect of his own misfortune after he arbitrarily dismissed
two Supreme Court justices for commuting a death sentence. This created a
constitutional and judicial crisis, such that there is no competent court to
hear his election petition. His efforts to stall the inauguration of the
president-elect have been cut down by The Gambia’s Supreme Court.”
Culled from: THE SUNNEWS ONLINE
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