Abdul Aziz One Mohammed was military governor of

Borno State Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west, Gombe to the southwest, and Adamawa to the south while its eastern border forms part of the national border with Cameroon, its northern border ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, and later was leader of the ECOMOG peacekeeping force in

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

and

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

. General Ibrahim Babangida appointed Colonel Abdul One Mohammed military governor of

from December 1987 to December 1989. In 1997 Abdul One Mohammed was posted to the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) as Deputy ECOMOG commander and Chief of Staff, heading operation in

and

Sierra Leone

In November 1997 Abdul Mohammed denied ECOMOG's fighter jets had violated a ceasefire agreement in an incident where fighters had intervened against ships trying the break the UN embargo against the junta in

. He said "Our aircraft were shot at so we returned fire". On 9 February 1998 the ECOMOG troops launched an all-out offensive to regain control of

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...

, capital of Sierra Leone. Abdul One Mohammed said his troops were near the

city centre and would continue their advance. On 24 February 1998 Abdul One Mohammed said that commercial and humanitarian cargoes could now enter the harbour of Freetown and that the airport was also open. The embargo on arms remained in force. He said he planned to soon deploy troops to gain better control of the hinterland and expected all roads in the Bo area to be reopened soon. On 25 February 1998 One Mohammed said his troops had moved in from

Kenema Kenema is the third largest city in Sierra Leone (after Freetown and Bo, Sierra Leone, Bo), and the largest city in the country's Eastern Province, Sierra Leone, Eastern Province. It is the capital of Kenema District and a major economic center of ...

and had taken over Bo from RUF rebels after heavy fighting. ECOMOG units held key positions in the city, backed up by

Kamajor The Kamajors were a group of traditional hunters from the Mende ethnic group in the south and east of Sierra Leone (mostly from the Bo, Sierra Leone, Bo district). The word "Kamajor" derived from Mende "kama soh", meaning traditional hunter with ...

militiamen.

Liberia

Liberians held a parade for ECOMOG peacekeepers in January 1998, who were due to leave the country on 2 February. Abdul One Mohammed called on Liberians to "put hands together and consolidate the peace we have put together". Earlier that month, he had expressed concern that trends could lead to renewal of conflict in Liberia, including the "re-enlistment of soldiers who have been identified with the seven-year fratricidal war. In July 1998 Abdul One Mohammed said he regretted that Liberia's security forces were not retrained at the end of the civil war. He also said that ECOMOG had failed to establish a gun-free society in Liberia because "former warlords" had told their fighters to keep their weapons. In August 1998 he denied an accusation by Liberian President Charles Taylor that ECOMOG was planning to send more troops to destabilize the Liberian government. He said this was ridiculous since ECOMOG had been trying to restore peace since 1990, and Nigeria alone had spent millions of dollars for that purpose.

Later events

Abdul One Mohammed was replaced as ECOMOG Chief of Staff in July 1998 by Brigadier-General G. Kwabe. During hearings of the Special Tribunal on Sierre Leone in 2004, a witness said that

Hinga Norman Samuel Hinga Norman (January 1, 1940 – February 22, 2007) was a Sierra Leonean politician from the Mende tribe. He was the founder and leader of the Civil Defence Forces, commonly known as the Kamajors. The Kamajors supported the government of ...

, a former Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) Interior minister and

Civil Defence Forces The Civil Defense Forces (CDF) was a paramilitary organization that fought in the Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002). It supported the elected government of Ahmed Tejan Kabbah against the rebel groups Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and Armed For ...

leader had said he received arms and ammunition from Abdul One Mohammed. In 2006 Abdul One Mohammed was unable to appear at the trial of Hinga Norman since he had been receiving medical attention in Germany and was too ill to travel to

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohammed, Abdul One Living people Nigerian Muslims Governors of Borno State Year of birth missing (living people) Nigerian generals