President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will depart Abuja on Sunday, October 12, for Rome, Italy, to participate in the Aqaba Process Heads of State and Government Level Meeting, which will focus on tackling the growing security crisis in West Africa.
Naija News reports that the development was announced in a statement on Saturday night by Bayo Onanuga, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy.
The high-level summit, scheduled to begin on October 14, will bring together Heads of State and Government, senior military and intelligence officials, and representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations to discuss evolving security threats in the region.
The Aqaba Process, launched in 2015 by King Abdullah II of Jordan, is a global counter-terrorism initiative co-chaired by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Government of Italy.
The initiative aims to address the complex and interconnected security challenges confronting West Africa — including the expansion of terrorist networks, the growing crime-terror nexus, and the increasing overlap between land-based terrorism in the Sahel and maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
At the meeting, participants are expected to exchange insights on the current security landscape, strengthen cooperation between regional and international partners, and develop new strategies to counter terror threats both on land and at sea.
The summit will also explore ways to coordinate efforts to combat online radicalisation and disrupt digital networks used for terrorist propaganda and recruitment.
In addition to attending plenary sessions, President Tinubu will hold bilateral meetings with other world leaders to discuss collaborative measures for addressing security challenges across the subregion.
The President will be accompanied by:
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Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
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Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, Minister of Defence
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Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser
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Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed, Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA)
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And other senior government officials.