Mali Crisis: Nigeria spends $34m

Ben Agande, Abuja.
Nigeria has so far committed about $34million (about N7billion) towards the deployment of troops and logistics support to the Malian Crisis with an additional pledge of $5millionin further assistance.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who made this disclosure at the Donors’ Conference organized at the end of the 20th Ordinary Session of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Tuesday, also revealed that 900 combat soldiers and 300 Air Force personnel are already on ground in Mali as part of the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA).

According to the president, Nigeria’s commitment was an expression of Nigeria’s desire to restore normalcy in Mali, noting that the country has undertaken the re-construction and refurbishment of a number of medical clinics in the military barracks of some of the Malian Defence and Security Forces, as part of the Security Sector Reform (SSR) intervention to the tune of US$5.5 million.
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