President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday held a closed-door meeting with the Chief of Defence Staff, Olufemi Oluyede, and a French military general at the Presidential Villa in Abuja as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s security response.
Sources close to the Presidency said the meeting formed part of intensified collaboration with international partners to address the country’s security challenges.
In addition to the meeting with the French officer, Tinubu also convened an emergency security meeting with Nigeria’s service chiefs and heads of intelligence agencies.
Those present included the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Staff, the Director-General of the Department of State Services, the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, and the Inspector-General of the Nigeria Police Force.
The security consultations followed a deadly attack in the North-East in which a colonel and six soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device planted by insurgents in Borno State on Sunday.
According to sources familiar with the development, the meeting between Tinubu, Oluyede and the French general began around 2 p.m. and was the President’s first official engagement since returning from Bayelsa State on Friday.
Although the identity of the French officer was not disclosed, two Presidency officials confirmed the development to The PUNCH on condition of anonymity.
“The President met the Chief of Defence Staff and a French General. That is the meeting that happened this afternoon,” one source said.
“He has always said that he will seek collaboration and support from everywhere he can get help. And he is doing that. He is on top of the security issues. That is why he met with the French General and our CDS today.”
Another Presidency official described the engagement as a private meeting, declining to provide further details.
The development comes three weeks after Tinubu announced that France had agreed to provide military equipment and training support to Nigerian forces combating insurgency in the North-East.
Speaking earlier on March 22 after a discussion with French President Emmanuel Macron, Tinubu said Nigeria would leverage its diplomatic goodwill and available credit facilities to strengthen its security capabilities.
“I can report to you that after a lengthy discussion with Emmanuel Macron, they have agreed to collaborate with us on equipment and support,” Tinubu said while addressing state governors in Lagos.
“I’m making frantic efforts to contact other nations. If we have to spend our goodwill and line of credit, we have those who are willing to support us with equipment and training.”
Monday’s meeting comes amid mounting security concerns across the country.
On Saturday, a controversial airstrike carried out by the Nigerian Air Force targeting insurgents reportedly hit Jilli market near the Yobe–Borno border, resulting in the deaths of suspected militants and civilians.
The military defended the strike as a precision operation against a terrorist logistics hub used by fighters of the Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province.
However, rights group Amnesty International criticised the operation, describing it as a “reckless use of deadly force” and calling for an independent investigation.
The Presidency also defended the strike. Speaking with Bloomberg on Monday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, said the market had become a logistics and trading hub for insurgent groups.
“The market was a legitimate military target because it has been turned into a logistics and trading hub by Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists,” Ajayi said.
Meanwhile, the United States Department of State recently authorised the voluntary departure of non-emergency government employees and their families from the US Embassy in Abuja, citing deteriorating security conditions.
The advisory elevated 23 Nigerian states to a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” warning, including Plateau State, Jigawa State, Kwara State, Niger State, and Taraba State.
The advisory cited threats from Islamist insurgents in the Northeast, criminal gangs in the Northwest, and ongoing violence in parts of southern and southeastern Nigeria.
Visa appointments at the US Embassy in Abuja were suspended following the advisory, although the consulate in Lagos continues to provide routine and emergency services.
Responding to the development, Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, said the travel advisory was based on internal US protocols and did not reflect the overall security situation in the country.
“While we acknowledge isolated security challenges in some areas, there is no general breakdown of law and order, and the vast majority of the country remains stable,” he said.
