iDeemlawfulPresident Bola Tinubu on Sunday received a senior delegation from the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), led by its Commander, Gen. Dagvin Anderson, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The engagement comes amid heightened Nigeria–US security collaboration following the Christmas Day airstrikes on terrorist camps in Sokoto State.
The State House media office disclosed the meeting in a brief photo-news update issued to journalists on Sunday evening.
The discussions also follow months after the United States redesignated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern.”
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Among those present were the Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Nigeria, Keith Heffern; Command Sergeant Major Garric M. Banfield, AFRICOM’s senior enlisted leader; and Amb. Peter Vrooman, AFRICOM’s senior foreign policy adviser.
On the Nigerian side, President Tinubu was joined by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; the Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.); the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Olufemi Oluyede; the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu; and the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Uandiandeye.
Also in attendance were the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Mohammed Mohammed, and the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Tosin Ajayi.
The visit follows the December 25 precision strikes in Sokoto State, which AFRICOM said were conducted “at the direction of the President of the United States and the Secretary of War, and in coordination with Nigerian authorities.”
The operations targeted Islamic State-linked militants operating in the Bauni forest of Tangaza.
In October 2025, former US President Donald Trump designated Nigeria a CPC under the International Religious Freedom Act, citing “severe violations of religious freedom” and the “mass slaughter” of Christians by “radical Islamists.”
He later threatened possible military intervention should the killings persist.
The Federal Government rejected the description, maintaining that terrorist groups attack Nigerians regardless of faith.
The Tinubu administration was reported to have engaged a US-based lobbying firm, DCI Group, for $9m to highlight efforts to protect Christian communities and sustain American backing for counterterrorism efforts in West Africa.
The agreement, signed in December 2025 through the Office of the National Security Adviser, attracted criticism from some US lawmakers.
US officials have said security cooperation with Nigeria will be strengthened following Ribadu’s visit to Washington in November 2025 for talks with Pentagon officials.
AFRICOM added that intelligence sharing and joint operations with the Nigerian military have continued.