The United Nations will be investigating Nigeria’s public protest of the treatment of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, whom the Sudanese government prevented from visiting the Nigerian contingent serving in the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the country, Empowered Newswire reports.
The Minister of Defence, Dr. Haliru Mohammed, had expressed bitterness over the development while playing host to the United States Senior Adviser on Darfur, Mr. Denis Smith, and the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Terrence Macaulay, in Abuja on Thursday.
The Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary General, Mr. Eduardo Buey, expressed concern that the Sudanese situation was becoming a complex one and promised to investigate the matter.
“The Secretary-General is aware of the complex situation in Sudan and the challenges facing peacekeeping troops. The UN will check the specifics of the allegations,” Buey said.
But such problems from the Sudanese government are not peculiar to Nigeria, but a general challenge that the world body had had to deal with in its challenging relationship with Khartoum.
A recent UN report on Sudan, had expressed concerns over the delays in the issuance of visas for UNAMID personnel and the clearance by customs authorities of mission equipment at Port Sudan.
The report had said such impediments limit the mission’s ability to implement its mandate fully and effectively.
t called on the government of Sudan “to process all outstanding visa requests without delay, to clear for onward transportation to Darfur the containers of equipment held in Port Sudan, and to allow the mission to operate unimpeded in accordance with the status-of-forces agreement.”