Abuja: President Bola Tinubu on Monday received a high‑powered United States military delegation at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The team was led by General Dagvin R. Anderson, Commander of the United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM), underscoring Washington’s deepening security ties with Nigeria.
The closed‑door meeting at Aso Rock signals renewed cooperation on counter‑terrorism, regional stability, and military partnership between Africa’s largest democracy and the world’s foremost military power.
The delegation was led by General Anderson, accompanied by the Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, Mr Keith Heffern, alongside other members of the team.
The meeting took place at the State House, where President Tinubu, accompanied by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and Nigeria’s service chiefs, welcomed the U.S. delegation.
This was disclosed in a statement on Sunday by the Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, Mr Dada Olusegun.
According to the statement, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, together with his National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and Nigeria’s service chiefs, received in audience the U.S. Africa Command Commander, General Dagvin Anderson, who directs U.S. military engagement in Africa, his team, and Keith Heffern, Chargé d’Affaires and chief U.S. diplomat in Nigeria, at the State House, Abuja.”
Though details of the closed-door meeting remain undisclosed, the visit takes place amid increasing security cooperation between Nigeria and the United States.
The engagement also follows reports that the United States recently deployed a small team of troops to Nigeria on February 3, marking the first official U.S. military presence on Nigerian soil since airstrikes targeted terrorist positions in the country on Christmas Day 2025.