Tinubu hosts AFRICOM General, US Embassy officials at State House

President Bola Tinubu on Sunday welcomed top United States military and diplomatic officials to the State House in Abuja for high-level talks, further underscoring growing cooperation between Nigeria and the United States.

Leading the delegation was Dagvin Anderson, the general in charge of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), alongside Keith Heffern, the chargé d’affaires of the US Embassy in Nigeria.

The meeting also had in attendance Peter Vrooman, AFRICOM’s foreign policy adviser, and Garric Banfield, the command’s senior enlisted leader.

The delegation was received by the president alongside Nigerian security chiefs, including Nuhu Ribadu, national security adviser (NSA); Mohammed Mohammed, director-general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA); Tosin Ajayi, director-general of the Department of State Service (DSS); Christopher Musa, minister of defence; Olufemi Oluyede, chief of defence staff (CDS); Waidi Shaibu, chief of army staff (COAS); and Emmanuel Uandiandeye, chief of defence intelligence.

The meeting comes days after Anderson disclosed that the US has dispatched a “small team” of troops to Nigeria following recent security cooperation between both countries.

Anderson said the move followed his meeting with Tinubu in Rome, Italy, late last year.

Weeks ago, Allison Hooker, under-secretary of state, led a US team of eight federal agencies to Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, for a bilateral working group meeting with Nigerian security officials.

The national security adviser headed the Nigerian delegation.