Friday, 12 September 2008, by President Ernest Bai Koroma, succeeding Major General Edward Sam M'boma. In August 2010, he was placed on terminal leave by president Ernest Bai Koroma and succeeded as CDS by Robert Yira Koroma. International Diplomatic Work Nelson-Williams was part of the delegation of the Commonwealth Heads of State meeting held in Nassau, Bahamas in 1985. He has attended the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) organised by the United States Government in Senegal in 2003. He was actively engaged in the week of senior officers of African countries held in Beijing, China in 2007 at the National Defence University. He has taken part in two African Command (AFRICOM) dialogues in Washington DC sponsored by the United States Government and Department for Defence in 2007 and 2008 and the Forum for Africa held at the Institute of Higher Studies and National Defence in Paris, France in 2008. He served as a representative at the United Nations in New York and paved the way to send troops of the RSLAF on peace support operations. He is a co-author of the book "Security Sector Review in Sierra Leone −1996-2007" sponsored by the British Government, Foreign Ministry and the Department for International Development. 2016 Kidnapping On 1 July 2016, Nelson-Williams was scheduled to attend the military graduation ceremony of two Sierra Leonean army officers. His vehicle was stopped at an unofficial checkpoint on the Abuja Korona Highway in Kaduna, Nigeria. Nelson-Williams was kidnapped and ransomed for 44 million Naira (about $150,000). He escaped without paying the ransom by either the Sierra Leone or Nigerian government on 5 July 2016. Family Brigadier Nelson-Williams is married to Mrs. Gloria Nelson-Williams. They have three daughters. Honours Sierra Leone: Grand Commander of the Order of the Rokel (2007) References Sierra Leonean military personnel Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Sierra Leone Creole people Egyptian Military Academy alumni