BANJUL, GAMBIA // Nigeria sent fighter jets and 200 soldiers to Senegal on Wednesday as part of a regional collective to enforce the result of Gambia’s contested election.
The Economic Community Of West African States has called on leader Yahya Jammeh to respect the result of the December 1 election and step down after 22 years in power.
Mr Jammeh declared a state of emergency on Tuesday as president-elect Adama Barrow, who is in Senegal, insisted that his inauguration would go ahead as planned on Thursday on Gambian soil.
The Nigerian air force said the troops were part of an Ecowas military standby unit given the task of enforcing “the December 1, 2016 election mandate in The Gambia”.
Gambian politicians yesterday voted to extend Mr Jammeh’s term by three months.
Amid the uncertainty, more than 1,000 tourists began leaving the tiny nation, streaming into the airport for information on departing flights.
Mr Jammeh’s declaration triggered travel advisory warnings by Britain and the Netherlands, with around 1,000 British tourists expected to leave on special flights on Wednesday alone.
Tour operator Thomas Cook said it was laying on extra flights in the next 48 hours to remove 985 package tour customers from the tiny West African nation, and trying to contact a further 2,500 “flight only” tourists in Gambia to arrange for their departure.
“It’s because of the uncertainty and the likelihood an ECOWAS standby force will have to be deployed,” a diplomatic source said.
In Washington, the US state department urged Mr Jammeh to “peacefully hand over power” to Mr Barrow, but a military option is becoming more likely by the hour.
Under the Gambian constitution a state of emergency lasts up to 90 days if the national assembly confirms it – which the legislature did late Tuesday.
* Agence France-Presse
