Senegalese troops were seen moving towards the Gambian border in a show of force to pressure President Yahya Jammeh to stand down, the BBC reports.
Mr. Jammeh was scheduled to hand over to President-elect Adama Barrow on Thursday but has instead remained defiant despite losing the December 1, 2016 presidential election.
On Tuesday, Mr. Jammeh announced a 90-day state of emergency insisting he would remain president beyond the January 19 handing over date.
West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, which has been mediating to ensure Mr. Jammeh leaves power, had asked him to do so before January 19.
While negotiations continued, ECOWAS also indicated it had prepared a standby force to be led by Senegal to force Mr. Jammeh out if he refuses to leave peacefully.
Reports of preparations by the Nigerian military to join the potential ECOWAS military mission was published on Africa-Online days ago.
On Wednesday, the BBC reported that Nigeria has sent an air force unit to Senegal in support of the possible intervention.
Nigerian has tried to downplay any military role insisting Mr. Jammeh can still be prevailed upon to leave before Thursday. President Muhammadu Buhari leads an ECOWAS delegation to see such peaceful power transfer.
-Nicholas Ibekwe I Premium Times
