Tinubu Hosts US AFRICOM Commander at Aso Rock for Security Talks

By Emmanuel Kwada

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Sunday received a high-level delegation from the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) at the State House, Abuja, in a meeting focused on deepening security cooperation between Nigeria and the United States.

The delegation was led by AFRICOM Commander, General Dagvin Anderson, and included the Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Nigeria, Keith Heffern, along with other senior US military officials such as Senior Foreign Policy Adviser Ambassador Peter Vrooman and Command Sergeant Major Garric M. Banfield.

President Tinubu was joined by Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, the service chiefs, and heads of key security agencies.

The meeting comes amid strengthened bilateral ties on counter-terrorism efforts, following recent terrorist attacks and killings in parts of the country.

It follows General Anderson’s earlier statement that the US had deployed a small team of troops to Nigeria to support ongoing security collaboration. Anderson had linked the deployment to discussions with President Tinubu during a meeting in Rome, Italy, last year.

The two nations have increased joint efforts to combat groups like Boko Haram and ISWAP, including intelligence sharing and other forms of assistance.

As of the time of this report, no official details or outcomes from Sunday’s closed-door discussions have been released by either side.

This engagement highlights the growing partnership between Nigeria and the US in addressing regional security challenges in West Africa.