Tinubu Travels to Rome for Counterterrorism Summit

President Bola Tinubu on Sunday departed Abuja for Rome, Italy, to attend the Aqaba Process heads of state and government-level meeting.

Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said in a statement that the Aqaba Process is a counterterrorism initiative launched in 2015 by King Abdullah II of Jordan. It is co-chaired by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Italian government and focuses on security challenges in West Africa.

“The meeting, which will begin on October 14, will bring together heads of state and government, senior intelligence and military officials from African countries, and representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to discuss the evolving security challenges in West Africa,” Onanuga said.

He added that the forum recognizes the complex security threats confronting West Africa, including the expansion of terrorist networks, the growing crime-terror nexus, and the overlap between land-based terrorism in the Sahel and maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.

According to the statement, participants will exchange assessments of the current security landscape and promote cooperation between regional and international partners to address cross-border threats.

The meeting will also focus on strategies to counter terrorism on land and at sea, combat online radicalization, and disrupt digital networks used for terrorist propaganda and recruitment.

In addition to attending the plenary sessions, Tinubu will hold bilateral talks with other leaders to discuss ways of tackling rising security challenges across the subregion.

Accompanying the president are the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Ojukwu; Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru; National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Mohammed Mohammed; and other senior government officials.