text: Nigerian general takes over Liberia ECOMOG force . MONROVIA 1996-08-22 Nigerian Major General Sam Victor Malu took over on Thursday as commander of the ECOMOG peacekeeping force in Liberia , two days after the start of the latest ceasefire in the six-year civil war . Malu replaced another Nigerian major general , John Inienger , who told officers at the handover ceremony that peace was now at hand for Liberia after six years of fighting and more than a dozen failed accords . " The search for peace in Liberia has been difficult , challenging and sometimes painful . Peacekeepers were harassed , killed and taken hostage , " he said . " It is difficult but I want to assure you that peace is in sight . " United Nations military observers travelling to the western town of Tubmanburg on Wednesday to monitor the ceasefire were delayed by shooting along the highway , U.N. special representative Anthony Nyakyi said . They finally went ahead with an escort from the ULIMO-J faction . Faction leaders who agreed a new peace deal in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Saturday have accused each other of breaking the ceasefire . The latest peace deal foresees the disarmament of an estimated 60,000 combatants and sets a target date of May 30 next year for elections . The ECOMOG force , currently 10,000 strong , was sent to Liberia by the Economic Community of West African States in 1990 at the height of the fighting .