800 soldiers to leave for Darfur

05.03.2008

Eight hundred soldiers from the 301 Artillery Regiment, Nigerian Army, Gombe State, are billed to participate in the United Nations (UN) peace keeping operations in Darfur, Sudan.

The commandant of the regiment, Colonel Mansur Dan-Ali, told newsmen on Tuesday in Gombe that the troops, whose assignment would start in April, would be in Darfur for six months. According to him, the Nigerian Army now rotates such assignments among its various units and commands.

“It is a good idea that every unit is given the opportunity to participate in peace-keeping operations. “When you go for peace keeping operations, you gain additional experience,” he said. The commandant said the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Luka Yusuf, was poised to ensure an improved military-civilian relationship in the democratic dispensation.

According to him, the Nigerian Army now appoints a very senior officer to head its Public Relations Department. He also said the “`Youth Foundation” introduced by the Chief of Army Staff was initiated to assist gifted youths in barracks to excel in academics and sports. “We want to change this perception that a barrack boy is a bad boy. We have good and promising boys in the barracks,”Dan-Ali said.

He said the Gombe State government had given the Army a piece of land measuring for the building of a permanent barracks.