Nigeria will immediately deploy a 200-member special forces unit to Türkiye for training as part of a broader effort to strengthen security cooperation between the two countries, Nigerian Defense Minister Christopher Musa said Sunday.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF) 2026, Musa noted that Türkiye had allocated a training quota for Nigerian special forces personnel and that the troops would be assigned duties upon returning home.
“We will continue to do a lot together,” Musa said, adding that the two countries also plan to hold joint exercises and expand cooperation across several areas of defense.
Musa also said Nigeria and Türkiye had agreed to work together on defense equipment production and military technology transfer.
He said Türkiye’s military manufacturing capacity could help Nigeria address persistent security challenges, including insurgency and armed violence, by improving the capabilities of its armed forces through training, equipment cooperation and longer-term defense partnerships.
On Jan. 27, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu visited Ankara to hold bilateral talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Speaking to journalists at a joint news conference after meeting President Tinubu at the Presidential Complex, Erdoğan described Nigeria as a strategic partner with whom Türkiye maintains close coordination on key issues affecting the Islamic world.
Erdoğan underlined the leaders reviewed bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, education, energy and the defense industry, noting that his 2021 visit to Nigeria laid the groundwork for expanding ties. He emphasized the “strong political will” on both sides, pointing to the presence of senior Nigerian officials in Tinubu’s delegation as a sign of commitment.
Following one-on-one and delegation-level talks, the two nations signed nine accords covering diplomacy, education, media, women’s affairs, halal accreditation, diaspora cooperation and military collaboration.
The agreements include a military cooperation protocol, a memorandum on media and communication, a pact establishing the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO), and memorandums between the diplomacy academies of both foreign ministries, among others.
