Johnson Abbah Umama was never lost in the crowd in Nyala. With his booming voice, friends and UNAMID colleagues often heard him enter a room before they saw him, and with his jovial, outspoken nature, he always seemed to be at the centre of the action.

The Nigerian military observer, who commanded a team of 13 observers and liaison officers in Sector South, was renowned for being direct and upfront in whatever he did, whether it was supervising his staff, carrying out his daily work, playing a game of tennis or arranging the social calendar in the officers’ mess.

Take the tombola held on Christmas Day last year to boost the morale of troops serving with UNAMID in Nyala. Lieutenant Colonel Umama quickly volunteered to serve on the organizing committee, rustle up some prizes and then act as host for the day’s festivities.

“People were laughing [as he read out the winning numbers] and enjoying themselves,” recalls Major Frank Etim, a close family friend. “He was very, very outgoing. You couldn’t miss him – he was very confident, very happy and very funny.”

That sense of humour will be one of the qualities that colleagues miss most after the 39-year-old was shot and killed on 7 May, ambushed by unknown gunmen that evening during an apparent carjacking as he opened the gate of his home in the South Darfur capital to park his vehicle.

Shuaibu Nuhu, a staff officer, will miss Lt. Col. Umama’s instinctive kindness. He last bumped into him at El Fasher airport, where the late officer – on his own way to Khartoum – learned that his colleague was headed to Nyala and immediately set about organizing accommodation for his visit.

Those staff that worked under the team site commander also saw his tough side. He was known for being an exacting boss who expected staff to be professional and efficient in every task they carried out and ensured that their daily reports were precise and accurate.

It’s a trait he displayed back in Nigeria as well, where he worked for many years as a military instructor on amphibious training courses in the south-eastern city of Calabar and was known for being “a strict disciplinarian”, recalls staff planning officer Emmanuel Emekah.

He used to say… ‘No pain, no gain’. The training is very tough. But he tried to motivate the students as well. He would sing special songs to motivate them.”

Before he arrived in Darfur last September for a scheduled 12-month stint, Lt. Col. Umama – who was also a trained helicopter pilot – was asked several times by his superiors to stay on as an instructor in Calabar, a sign of his talents, notes Lt. Col. Joseph Ofoegbu.

“When he was a training officer, he was very strict because you needed to be that strict. But he was also someone who could breach gaps [between senior and junior soldiers]… He was a strong-willed person. He had this desire to go after something and achieve it, and he was willing to put in the extra hours to do it.”

That legacy of amphibious training also meant Lt. Col. Umama was a fine freestyle swimmer, especially over longer distances where his superior stamina and endurance came to the fore. He enjoyed most sports, including tennis (friends say he used a very fast serve and tactical nous to outwit opponents) and squash.

But his family was his pride and joy, and the late officer leaves behind his wife Sarah, three sons and one daughter. Memorial services for Lt. Col. Umama will be held in both Nigeria and Darfur.

The blue helmet was the fifteenth UNAMID casualty as a result of hostile actions since the Mission took over operations from the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) at the start of last year.