- Safiu Kehinde
President Bola Tinubu has on Sunday hosted the Commander of the United States’s Africa Command (AFRICOM), General Dagvin Anderson, and other members on the US delegates.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
According to the statement, Dagvin had alongside other US officials led by the Charge D’Affairs, U.S Embassy in Nigeria, Keith Heffern, paid a courtesy visit to the President at the State House on Sunday evening.
They were received by Tinubu and the Nigerian Security Chiefs which include Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (Rtd); Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede; Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen Waidi Shaibu; and the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Lt.-Gen Emmanuel Uandiandeye.
Also present are the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu;Director-General, National Intelligence Agency, Mohammed Mohammed; and Director General, Department of State Service, Tosin Ajayi.
Some other members of the US delegates who according the AFRICOM Commander include Senior Foreign Policy Adviser , AFRICOM, Amb. Peter Vrooman; and Command Sergeant Major Garric M. Banfield,
While the motive behind the visit was not disclosed, the presence of the US delegates and security experts signalled intensifed cooperation between the Nigeria and the United States in the fight against terrorism.
Recall that the US had on Christmas Eve last year launched multiple air strikes targeted at terrorists camps in the Northwest region of Nigeria.
This came under the directive of the US President, Donald Trump, who alleged genocidal attack on the Christian populace in the country.
The allegations and controversies had since seen to series of diplomatic engagements between both countries with reports suggesting the deployment of US military officials to Nigeria.