President Bola Tinubu will today depart Abuja for Rome, Italy, to attend the Aqaba Process Heads of State and Government Meeting, which will focus on the growing security crisis in West Africa.
The high-level meeting, scheduled to begin on Monday, October 14, will bring together Heads of State and Government, top intelligence and defence officials, as well as representatives of regional and international organisations to address emerging security threats in the region.
Launched in 2015 by King Abdullah II of Jordan, the Aqaba Process is a global counter-terrorism initiative jointly hosted this year by the Jordanian and Italian governments.
The forum seeks to strengthen international coordination in tackling terrorism, violent extremism, and the crime-terror nexus across Africa and the Middle East.
According to a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, discussions at this year’s meeting will centre on the complex security landscape in West Africa including the expansion of terrorist networks, the overlap between Sahel-based insurgencies and piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, and the need for enhanced regional cooperation.
Participants are also expected to deliberate on strategies to counter online radicalisation, disrupt digital terrorist propaganda, and build stronger maritime and land-based security responses.
During the visit, President Tinubu will hold bilateral meetings with other world leaders to explore collaborative approaches to addressing insecurity across the subregion.
Accompanying the President on the trip are the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar; National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed, among other senior officials.
The President is expected to return to Nigeria at the conclusion of the meeting.
(Editor: Nkoli Omhoudu)
