Nigeria and United States are set to deepen military cooperation, particularly in counter-terrorism operations, intelligence sharing and defence capacity building.
Minister of Defence, General Christopher Gwabin Musa (Rtd), reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to stronger military relations with US Wednesday in Abuja while receiving Major General Matthew Brown, Commander of US Army Southern European Task Force, Africa, SETAF-AF. Meeting focused on reviewing ongoing security initiatives and developing more results-oriented framework for future defence cooperation.
Musa expressed appreciation for US government’s continued security partnership, particularly collaboration with Nigerian forces in North-East and around Lake Chad Basin.
He said cooperation had contributed to boosting troop morale and identified specialised joint training for Special Forces, intelligence sharing and capacity building as areas requiring greater collaboration.
Other priority areas highlighted include enhanced border surveillance, counter-improvised explosive device, C-IED, support and modernisation of defence infrastructure to strengthen Nigeria’s local capacity.
Major General Brown described Nigeria-US military relationship as strategic and based on mutual trust. He highlighted counter-terrorism engagements against ISIS-affiliated groups in Africa and said purpose of visit was to better understand Nigeria’s defence priorities and align broader US support, while stressing US military activities in Nigeria are temporary and focused on institutional support and collaboration.
