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Annan Appoints New Force Commander for Peacekeepers in Liberia

UN News Service (New York)
NEWS
December 5, 2005
Posted to the web December 5, 2005

A high-ranking Nigerian army officer will be the next Force Commander of the
United States Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
announced today.
The appointment of Lt. Gen. Chikadibia Obiakor replacing Lt. Gen. Joseph
Owonibi, also of Nigeria, will become effective on 1 January, 2006.
According to a UN spokesman, Lieutenant General Obiakor has a long and
distinguished career with the Nigerian Army, beginning in 1973. He is currently
the General Officer Commanding, Second Mechanized Division, and had previously
served as the Commander of the Economic Community of West African States
Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), as well as ECOMOG's chief coordinator for the
Liberian elections in 1997.
During and after the decade-long civil war that devastated Liberia, finally
ending in 2003, Nigeria and ECOMOG took leading roles in the peacemaking and
peacebuilding processes.

   

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