§ Mr. James Johnsonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further information he has received from the international observers in Nigeria about the conduct of the Nigerian war.
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§ Mr. FoleyThe International Observer Team to Nigeria has recently issued a further report on its activities during the period 7th March to 30th April, 1969. The report includes an account of conditions in areas recently occupied by the Federal Army and the Team's inquiries about air operations. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. James Johnsonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what request he has received from the Federal Government of Nigeria about assistance in training the Nigerian Navy; and what reply he has given.
§ Mr. M. StewartThe Nigerian Government had asked us to provide a naval training team to assist with the training of the Nigerian Navy long before the civil war began. This request was fully in keeping with the help which we would normally be prepared to give to a country to which we had granted independence, and negotiations for a team reached an advanced stage. However because of the war the proposal was shelved.
Now that the Federal Navy is no longer actively engaged in the war—the secessionists having been pushed back from the Eastern Nigerian sea board—the Federal Government has once again asked us to provide a team and we have agreed to meet their request. A small team, approximately eight strong, will therefore be sent out in due course to help train the Nigerian Navy for its postwar rôle.