The European Union has committed a €20 million defence support package under the European Peace Facility to the Armed Forces of Nigeria to bolster internal security and counter-insurgency operations across the country.
The bilateral agreement was finalised during an official engagement at the Ministry of Defence headquarters in Abuja, where the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (Rtd), received the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot.
According to a statement issued by the Minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Leah Katung-Babatunde, the funds financed through the EU’s off-budget European Peace Facility, will strengthen operational capabilities against violent extremism.
Ambassador Mignot confirmed that an EU technical delegation will visit Abuja in November to agree on execution details and deployment schedules. The envoy also extended an official invitation to General Musa (rtd) to attend an upcoming meeting of Defence Ministers in Brussels later this year.
Addressing ongoing operational challenges, General Musa noted that while significant strides have been made in stabilising volatile regions, isolated attacks and highway kidnappings remain persistent threats.
To counter these risks, the Minister disclosed that the Federal Government is expecting the delivery of ten attack helicopters alongside a fleet of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to expand close-air support, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. The hardware forms part of broader procurements undertaken by the administration of President Bola Tinubu to support frontline troops and secure critical transit routes.
The bilateral talks also addressed regional security across the Lake Chad Basin, where General Musa highlighted the severe environmental contraction of the water body, which supports upwards of 50 million people, as an underlying driver of economic instability and vulnerability.
General Musa emphasised that preventing extremist factions, notably Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), from establishing logistics strongholds on the lake’s islands remains the central mandate of the Multinational Joint Task Force. Ambassador Mignot commended recent multilateral engagements led by the MNJTF, the African Union, and the Lake Chad Basin Commission to harmonise cross-border counter-terrorism operations.
Turning to peacebuilding, General Musa called for an overhaul of the national Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration (DDR) framework, maintaining that state programmes must place the needs of victims, wounded soldiers, and the families of fallen service members ahead of accommodations for surrendered combatants.
