Tinubu, African Leaders Meet in Rome to Address West Africa’s Worsening Security Crisis
President Bola Tinubu will travel to Rome on Sunday to attend the Aqaba Process security meeting on West Africa.
The summit will focus on terrorism, organized crime, and maritime threats in the Sahel region.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will depart Abuja on Sunday, October 12, for Rome, Italy, to attend the Aqaba Process Heads of State and Government Level Meeting, which will focus on the growing security crisis in West Africa and the Sahel region.
The high-level meeting, which begins on October 14, will convene world leaders, intelligence chiefs, defense ministers, and senior officials from across Africa, alongside representatives of international and non-governmental organizations. The discussions will center on the evolving security threats confronting the subregion, particularly terrorism, organized crime, and maritime piracy.
The Aqaba Process was initiated in 2015 by King Abdullah II of Jordan as a global platform to promote cooperation in counter-terrorism and security governance. This year’s session, co-chaired by Jordan and Italy, underscores the need for stronger regional and international partnerships to address the complex and interconnected threats destabilizing parts of West Africa.
The meeting will explore the increasing links between extremist groups operating in the Sahel and maritime criminal networks in the Gulf of Guinea. It will also highlight efforts to curb the growing crime–terror nexus, which has intensified in recent years due to weak borders and limited state control in conflict-prone areas.
Deliberations will include strategies for improving intelligence sharing, joint military coordination, and the use of technology to counter online radicalization and digital recruitment by extremist organizations.
President Tinubu is expected to contribute Nigeria’s perspective on regional stability and outline his administration’s approach to restoring peace in the subregion through cooperation, intelligence-led policing, and economic inclusion.
During his stay in Rome, the President will also hold bilateral meetings with other world leaders to strengthen diplomatic and security ties.
Accompanying him on the trip are the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and senior officials from the National Intelligence Agency and the Presidency.
