The present Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar is one of the former officers of the Nigerian Army who contributed positively to the operations of the Nigerian Army in several ways. The fine Sultan of Sokoto retired from the Nigerian Army with the rank of a Brigadier General in 2006 around the same time he lost his brother who was the former Sultan of Sokoto to a plane crash in Abuja.
The Sultan of Sokoto just before he was appointed as a traditional ruler of one of the greatest regions in Nigeria, served in the Army for about 26 years before his retirement. He partook in many military operations that saw him rose from the rank of 2nd lieutenant as of the time he was commissioned after he graduated from the Nigerian Defence Academy to the rank of a Brigadier General.
As we all know, some countries in Africa, especially in West Africa, experienced civil unrest and that prompted some international intervention from other African countries, majorly Nigeria. Sultan of Sokoto is one of the soldiers who took part in military operations involving peace keeping in the troubled countries. Below are the African countries where the present Sultan of Sokoto was active as a soldier before he retired and became a king.
1. Chad.
Around 1978 to 1987, Chad experienced a terrible civil unrest from a group of armed men backed by France wanting to topple the Chadian government. Countries like Libya, Nigeria, and other notable West African countries came to the aid of Chad. It was around that time the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar then a soldier, commanded a battalion of African peacekeepers in Chad during their military operations as part of the Organization of African Unity’s force.
2. Sierra Leone.
Some rebel forces parading themselves as the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) fighters on the 6th of January 1999 entered the Capital of Sierra Leone, Freetown. They murdered, mutilated, and assaulted thousands of civilians. The campaign of terror from this group went on for weeks until Nigerian-led West African peacekeeping troops expelled the rebels from Freetown, Sierra Leone some weeks after.
During that time, Sa’ad Abubakar was appointed the commanding officer, 231 Tank Battalion (ECOMOG Operations) in Sierra Leone from 1999 to 2000.
Sultan of Sokoto is a king who has seen battle, survived many of it and was rewarded with a crown years later.
Source.
Content created and supplied by: Eltosdelights (via Opera
News )