The Acting Head of Mission United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) and Force Commander, Major General Benjamin Sawyerrs of Nigeria has decorated Major Bekinbo Brown with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
The UNISFA UNPOL Commissioner Violet Lusala assisted the Force Commander to decorate the officer with the new rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Lieutenant Colonel Brown is a holder of a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Civil Engineering and was commissioned into the Nigerian Army in 2003 as a member of Short Service Combatant Course 33 and posted into the elite Nigerian Army Corps of Engineers.
He attended the Engineering Project Management Course at Nairobi, Kenya and attended both Junior and Senior Staff Courses at the prestigious Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji-Kaduna, in North West Nigeria.
There at Jaji College, he emerged as the best graduating student in the Department of Land Warfare on both occasions.
Bekinbo also holds a Masters’s degree in International Affairs and Defence Studies from the Nigerian Defence Academy and he is currently the Senior Staff Officer, at U8 (Force Engineering) – UNISFA.
UNISFA BACKGROUND
The Abyei Area is an area on the border between South Sudan and Sudan that has been accorded “special administrative status” by the 2004 Protocol on the Resolution of the Abyei Conflict (Abyei Protocol) in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War.
Under the terms of the Abyei Protocol, the Abyei Area was considered, on an interim basis, to be simultaneously part of both the Republic of South Sudan and the Republic of Sudan, effectively a condominium.
On 27 June 2011, the United Nations Security Council authorised the deployment of a peacekeeping force to the disputed Abyei Area, which straddles northern and southern Sudan and has been claimed by both sides.
The Council’s action came in response to the renewed violence, escalating tensions and population displacement in the Abyei region as Southern Sudan was preparing to formally declare its independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011 — the culmination of a comprehensive 2005 peace agreement.
The Abyei which is rich in resources had in the weeks before the Security Council decision been the scene of deadly clashes that drove more than 100,000 people from their homes.
With the unanimous adoption of resolution 1990 (2011), the Council formally established, for six months, the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), which comprises a maximum of 4,200 military personnel, 50 police personnel and appropriate civilian support.
Authorising the use of force to protect civilians and humanitarian workers in Abyei, the council underscored the need for UNISFA’s quick deployment and urged Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon “to take necessary steps to ensure rapid and effective implementation” of the resolution.
The new operation answered the call for speedy council action in the wake of the agreement reached on 20 June between the Sudanese Government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) to withdraw their respective forces and allow Ethiopian peacekeepers in Abyei.
Under that deal, brokered by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, the two sides agreed on the need for a third party to monitor the flashpoint border between north and south.
The contributing forces of UNISFA are drawn from across the world with contributing troops from countries such as Bangladesh, China, Ghana, India Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan and Vietnam. There are also International and national Civilian Staff, Staff officers, military observers, individual Uniform Police, contractors and consultants from various countries of the world.
MAJOR GENERAL BENJAMIN SAWYERR UNISFA HEAD OF MISSION
The current Head of Mission UNISFA, Major General Benjamin Olufemi Sawyerr who hails from Rivers State, Southern Nigeria assumed duty on 15 March 2022.
He officially took over the role from Ethiopia’s Major General Kefyalew Amde Tessema who served the mission for close to two years and will lead the newly reconfigured multinational peacekeeping mission of the UNISFA.
General Sawyerr has a distinguished military career spanning more than 34 years of service with the Nigerian Army, including as the Director of Defence Information of Nigeria’s Defence Forces since 2021.
He previously served as Commandant of the Nigerian Army Armour School in Bauchi State in North East Nigeria (2020-2021). He held the position of Brigade Commander twice in North East Nigeria and was the Commanding Officer of the Nigerian Battalion with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (2009-2010).
General Sawyerr also served as the Director of Plans at the Nigerian Army Headquarters (2019-2020) and Deputy Director of Doctrine and Combat Development (2017-2018).
The Nigerian Army Officers and the Nigerian Military personnel, in general, are noted for their outstanding and excellent performance in UN Peacekeeping Operations over the years.
Dominica Nwabufo
