President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the deployment of a battalion plus troops as part of Nigeria’s contribution to the ECOWAS force in Mali.

Briefing journalists in Abuja the Director of Defence Information added that a company, made up of 190 soldiers will be deployed in the next 24 hours, while the remaining will be deployed later.

He adds that the force Commander; Major-General Umar Abdulkadir is already on ground in Mali, while a technical team of Army and Air Force are already in Mali to facilitate the eventual full deployment of fighter aircrafts and support elements.

Colonel Yerima said the deployment which was initially scheduled for September was brought forward following incursion by the militants in Mali into new territories.

France has almost 800 troops in Mali and another 1,700 involved elsewhere. It began its intervention last Friday with the aim of halting the Islamists’ advance to the south.

Meanwhile the Federal Government has also announced plans to provide 900 troops for the West African force, 300 more than previously announced.

The force is expected to be 3,300 strong. It will be deployed under UN Security Council resolution 2085, which was passed in December.

Col Mohammed Yerima said “the president approved the deployment of a battalion” and added that the first company of almost 200 soldiers would set off by the end of Wednesday.

Benin, Ghana, Niger, Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Togo have also pledged troops.

A summit of West African leaders on Saturday is expected to discuss the crisis further, as will a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday.