UN withdraws 108 Nigerian peace-keeping police in Liberia
News & Trends •
nigerias maj.-gen. salihu uba is the force commander and head of unmils military component of men and women from various countries including nigeria pakistan and ukraine1 the last batch of 108 nigerian police officers has been withdrawn from the un mission in liberia unmil after five years of service1 the batch of 200 nigerian peacekeepers withdrew from liberia in february as part of the termination of the missions mandate scheduled on march 30 the mission said1 the nigerian contingent has been deployed in liberia since unmil was first established in 20031 nigeria has been a main contributor of military and police to unmil1 the united nations mission in liberia unmil has been a steadfast partner to liberia for the last 15 years1 it has supported security and security sector reform rule of law efforts to disarm human rights and sustainable peace1 the mission will complete its mandate on 30 march 20181 unmil was established in september 2003 with 16475 uniformed personnel to monitor a ceasefire agreement in liberia following the conclusion of the second liberian civil war1 an official farewell ceremony was held in february in honour of the last departing 689 uniformed personnel 404 military and 285 police personnel who had served with the mission1 this symbolised the end of unmils military and police operations in liberia more than 14 years after unmil was deployed in compliance with security council resolution 1509 20031 unmil said the remaining 108 nigerian fpu officers the last unmil uniformed contingent remaining in liberia withdrew as part of the un missions termination1 uba was commander of the training and doctrine command of the nigerian army before his appointment as the force commander for unmil by the former un secretary-general ban ki-moon on jan. 9 20151 the formed police unit composed of nigerian and chinese personnel and since 2003 61 contingents from various countries had served in liberia unmil said1 according to uba the missions uniform component military and police have taken greater stride towards strengthening peace and security rule of law governance among others in liberia1 the force commander stated that it was not all roses particularly for the military which had the highest fatalities of 138 personnel while the police lost 21 persons1 as we are closing the memory of those 159 persons and others in the mission will continue to live in our minds1 we will continue to pay special tribute to them and those who contributed to peace and security in liberia the major general said1 the force commander on behalf of the police commissioner simon blatchly expressed their profound appreciation to the uniformed component of unsmil1 the special representative of the un secretary-general farid zarif had in his speech stated that the farewell signified an important benchmark in the history of the un in west africa1 while my colleagues in uniform are writing the last pages of the peacekeeping operations here liberians and their leaders have started writing the first pages of a brand new chapter in their history1 liberian president george weah commended unmil for its longstanding support to peace and stability saying the liberian people will forever remain grateful to them for their bravery and service1 weah said thank you for your hard work and sacrifice you have made over the years to keep the peace and stability of our beloved mama liberia. as you leave us now we will forever remember you. nan1