Details of a closed-door meeting of President Bola Tinubu with the Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, and a French General at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, have emerged.
Sources who spoke to Punch disclosed that the meeting centred on intensified collaboration on Nigeria’s security situation.
In addition to his earlier engagement, the President also held an emergency security meeting with the service chiefs and intelligence heads.
Those in attendance at the meeting include the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Staff, the Director-General of the Department of State Services, the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, and the Inspector-General of Police.
This meeting occurred after a colonel and six soldiers were killed on Sunday by an Improvised Explosive Device planted by insurgents in Borno State, marking another deadly strike against military personnel in the North-East theatre of operations.
The meeting with the French officer, which began at around 2 pm, was the President’s first official engagement since his return from Bayelsa on Friday.
A source close to the President confirmed the closed-door meeting to the aforementioned publication, saying, “The President met the Chief of Defence Staff and a French General. That is the meeting that happened this afternoon.
“He has always said that he will seek collaboration and support from everywhere he can get help. And he is doing that.
“He is on top of the security issues. That is why he met with the French General and our CDS today.”
A second Presidency official said, “It is a private meeting. He met with the CDS in the company of a French General. That is all I can confirm.”
The sources, however, did not disclose the name of the French general.
No photographs or visuals were released from the meeting.
The meeting follows a disclosure by Tinubu on Sunday, March 22, that Nigeria had secured French collaboration on military equipment and support after a lengthy discussion with French President Emmanuel Macron.