Tinubu To Attend Aqaba Process Summit in Rome On West Africa Security

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will on Sunday, October 12, depart Abuja for Rome, Italy, to participate in the Aqaba Process Heads of State and Government Level Meeting, which will focus on tackling the escalating security crisis in West Africa.

A statement from the Presidency said the high-level meeting, scheduled to begin on Monday, October 14, will bring together Heads of State and Government, senior intelligence and defence officials from across Africa, as well as representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations. The discussions will centre on evolving security threats and coordinated responses across the subregion.

The Aqaba Process—a counter-terrorism initiative launched in 2015 by King Abdullah II of Jordan—is co-chaired by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Italian Government. It seeks to strengthen global and regional cooperation against terrorism and transnational crime.

This year’s session will examine the growing expansion of terrorist networks in West Africa, the crime-terror nexus, and the increasing overlap between land-based terrorism in the Sahel and maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. Participants are expected to share intelligence assessments, enhance cross-border collaboration, and develop new strategies to curb both terrestrial and maritime threats.

Deliberations will also focus on countering online radicalisation and disrupting digital networks that spread extremist propaganda and aid recruitment.

On the sidelines of the plenary sessions, President Tinubu will hold bilateral meetings with other world leaders to explore practical measures for addressing insecurity across the subregion.

The President will be accompanied by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar; National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed; and other senior government officials.