Nigeria has signed a defense cooperation agreement with Turkey, which will include special forces training and joint defense production, as Africa’s most populous country seeks support in its fight against a long-running Islamist insurgency and other security threats, Nigerian Defense Minister Christopher Musa said on Saturday.
Musa, speaking to Turkish media during a visit to the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in southern Turkey, said Nigeria and Turkey had agreed to deepen cooperation in training, arms production and the development of Nigeria’s defense industry, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency.
He said 200 Nigerian special forces personnel would be sent to Turkey for training.
Nigeria has faced violence for years from Boko Haram and its offshoot, the Islamic State West Africa Province, in the country’s northeast. It is also battling armed gangs known locally as bandits in the northwest, where mass kidnappings, raids and killings have become common.
The country is also under pressure from the wider security crisis in the Sahel, the belt of land south of the Sahara Desert, where jihadist groups have expanded across several West African states in recent years.
Musa’s visit came less than three months after Nigerian President Bola Tinubu traveled to Turkey in late January, the first visit by a Nigerian head of state in nine years.
The defense deal points to Nigeria’s effort to widen its military partnerships as it looks beyond traditional allies such as the United States.
Turkey has emerged as a major defense supplier in recent years, especially in drones and other military equipment that have drawn interest from countries in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
Musa said Turkey had made major gains in military manufacturing while Nigeria was still building its own capacity. He added that the two countries had agreed to jointly produce some defense items.
Nigeria’s security problems have also drawn attention in Washington in recent months. US President Donald Trump has claimed that Christians in Nigeria face persecution, an argument rejected by Nigerian officials and many analysts, who say the country’s overlapping conflicts affect both Christians and Muslims.
Despite those tensions, Nigeria has continued defense cooperation with the United States.
© Agence France-Presse
