EU pledges €20m in defence help to Nigerian navy

The European Union has pledged €20 million in defence help to the Armed Forces of Nigeria below the European Peace Facility. The proposed help was mentioned throughout a gathering between Defence Minister Christopher Musa and the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, on the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.

Leah Katung-Babatunde, the minister’s Special Assistant on Media, disclosed this in an announcement on Saturday, October 17. She mentioned an EU technical delegation would go to Nigeria in November to agree on the main points of the help. The assembly additionally reviewed Nigeria-EU safety cooperation and bilateral defence preparations. Mignot recommended Musa’s efforts to enhance safety and invited him to a gathering of defence ministers in Brussels later within the yr.

Musa thanked the EU for its help and reaffirmed President Bola Tinubu’s dedication to defending lives and selling nationwide improvement. He mentioned the armed forces and different safety companies had been step by step restoring relative peace in troubled areas, though freeway kidnappings and assaults on remoted communities remained challenges.

The minister mentioned Nigeria was awaiting the supply of 10 assault helicopters, unmanned aerial automobiles and different navy gear to strengthen safety operations. He additionally recognized the shrinking Lake Chad Basin, which helps greater than 50 million folks, as a supply of instability.

Musa mentioned stopping terrorists from utilizing islands in Lake Chad as holding areas remained a key operational precedence for the Multinational Joint Task Force. On disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, he mentioned the programme would prioritise victims, together with navy personnel affected by the battle.