Jammeh: ECOWAS Chief Of Defence Staffs Meeting in Abuja; To Storm Gambia if… (Photos)
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin has hosted some ECOWAS CDS’s at the Defence Headquarters, (DHQ) Abuja as part of efforts to mitigate the political impasse in Gambia following the refusal of President Yahya Jammeh to hand over power to the president elect, Adama Barrow after he lost the December 1 2016 election.
While welcoming the participants and ECOWAS officials to DHQ, General Olonisakin expressed the readiness of regional leaders and military commanders to continue the pursuit of dialogue with the political leaders of Gambia and ensure peaceful transition of power in accordance with the Gambian’s constitution and the peoples will.
Notable dignitaries at the event included the chairperson of ECOWAS CDS, General Ziankahn of Liberia, General CH Gueye of Senegal ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs Hajiya Salamatu, Vice President of the Commission, the Ghanian Chief of Defence Staff and Principal Staff Officers from Defence, Army, Navy, and Air Force Headquarters.
Meanwhile, ECOWAS has put its military forces on alert should Gambian president Yahyah Jammeh fails to step down on January 19. Premium Times reports that President of ECOWAS commission President Marcel de Souza confirmed the move on a Malian television station.
De Souza said:
“We have put standby forces on alert if he does not (step down) on January 19 when his mandate ends.”
“No one has the right to oppose the will of the people.”
In the past, ECOWAS has deployed troops, led by Nigeria to disturbed countries like Liberia and Sierra Leone during civil wars in the 1990s, thereby setting a precedent for possible intervention in cases like Gambia’s.
