But a 776-strong infantry battalion due to fly out from the northern city of Sokoto was languishing on the tarmac for the second day with no sign of any aircraft arriving, AFP witnessed.

"The first aircraft has arrived in Lagos for the APCs and just a very few personnel, but I don't know about Sokoto," army spokesman Colonel Emeka Onwuamaegbu told AFP from Abuja.

The 26th Battalion of the Nigerian Army held a farewell ceremony in Sokoto on Thursday and set off for the city's airport expecting to meet flights operated by US contractor PAE.

But by 4.00pm (1500 GMT) Friday there was no sign of any chartered aircraft.

Air traffic control officers in both Sokoto and northern Nigeria's regional flight centre in Kano told AFP that no flight plans had been filed.

Meanwhile, the unit remained at the airport awaiting orders.

Onwuamaegbu told AFP that the plan had been for the airlift to begin on Thursday and for all of the troops to have joined the west African peacekeeping force ECOMIL in Monrovia by Monday.

He was unable to explain the delay or offer a new timetable.

The Sokoto battalion will double the size of ECOMIL's Nigerian lead element, and is much needed by force commander General Festus Okonkwo to ensure he has control of Monrovia as the city takes its first shaky steps towards peace.

Both government and rebel forces -- along with the city's hungry civilian population -- have welcomed the peacekeepers, but the capital remains tense and looting has become a problem.

ECOMIL is receiving assistance from around 200 US Marines, but the American force's deployment is limited in time and scope and Washington has made it clear that it prefers Africa to take the lead in resolving the crisis.

WAR.WIRE