Abuja — Nigeria ended years of ridicule in the United Nations over ill-equipped troops, with the re-equipment and re-kitting of its troops serving under the Nigerian Contingents in the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).

Despite commending the outstanding performance of Nigerian troops, the UN had in January 2008, threatened to deactivate the two Nigerian Contingent (NIGCON) battalions serving in UNMIL, as a result of inadequate equipment holdings arising from lack of implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Nigeria signed before the deployment of the troops.

The UNMIL headquarters had decried the poor logistics holding of Nigeria, adding that the nation has "failed to meet UN-Nigeria MOU on equipping its troops with the right calibre of military and other peacekeeping equipment."

Nigeria before now, had been losing a minimum of $1.2 million a month for deploying a battalion less equipped to meet United Nations standard for peacekeeping.

An Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) used in the theatre (peacekeeping) fetches a country minimum of $6,000 a month, if it is fully equipped to UN standard.In a chat with THISDAY yesterday, the Chief of Training and Operations, Defence Headquarters, Major General Ishaku Pennap, confirmed that the Defence Headquarters in the last three months, had sent a total of 62APCs, ambulances and medical equipment for both Level I (four) and Level II hospitals under UNAMID.Other equipment sent include 48 4x4 vehicles, two diesel tankers, two water tankers, five mobile workshops and two recovery trucks.

The four Level I hospital serves all the four battalions of the Nigerian Contingent currently serving under the UNAMID, while the Level II hospital caters for all UN and peacekeeping personnel serving under UNAMID in Southern Darfur.