Abuja — Federal Government and African Union have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, for the contribution of one Formed Police Unit, FPU, of 140 police officers and other resources to African Union Mission in Somalia, AMISOM.

Director of Peacekeeping of the Nigerian Police Force, DCP Kayode Aderanti, said the MoU was signed on behalf of AU by Ambassador Ram-tane Lamamra, the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, while the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Nigeria to AU, Bulus Lolo, signed for the Federal Government.

According to Aderanti, the signing concludes the formalisation of the deployment of the Nigerian Formed Police Unit to AMISOM in Somalia.

Under the AMISOM Strategic Concept, which was approved by the AU Peace and Security Council of African Union at its 302nd meeting held in Addis Ababa on December 2, 2011, and subsequently endorsed by the UN Security Council in its Resolution 2036 adopted on February 22, 2012, AU is authorised to deploy two FPUs to AMISOM with the mandate to provide security and operational support to the Somali Police Force.