Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 25 March 2014, Official Report, column 180W, on Africa, whether any service personnel are embedded with host forces or otherwise stationed in (a) Niger, (b) Nigeria and (c) the Seychelles.

Mr Mark Francois

There are no UK service personnel embedded with host forces or otherwise stationed in Niger.

The UK has a small number of personnel deployed to Nigeria in roles including diplomatic representation, defence engagement, liaison and training. As part of the package of support to Nigeria announced by the Prime Minister last month, an additional small team of experts has also deployed to help Nigeria establish an Intelligence Fusion Cell with French and US partners to assist the Nigerian government in locating the abducted school girls.

In the Seychelles, a Royal Naval officer is currently serving as a Liaison officer for the European Union Naval Force Somalia (EUNAVFOR).