Turkey has agreed to train 200 Nigerian special forces personnel under a new bilateral defence arrangement aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s security capacity and military cooperation between both countries.
Christopher Musa, Nigeria’s minister of defence disclosed the development on the sidelines of the 5th Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey on Saturday.
He said the training would begin once arrangements are concluded.
“We have a special forces training agreement. Türkiye has agreed to give us 200 special forces training, so as soon as I return, we are sending them here for training,” he said.
Musa added that both nations would also conduct joint military exercises later this year as part of wider defence collaboration.
“We will continue to do a lot. There will be exercises. The first exercise is coming up later in the year. So, in so many areas of defence, we are going to work together,” he said.
Beyond training, Nigeria and Turkey have also agreed to pursue joint production of defence equipment and technology transfer.
Musa said discussions with Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler focused on deepening strategic ties and expanding Nigeria’s defence manufacturing capabilities.
“Türkiye has improved dramatically with regard to the production of military hardware. Nigeria is still developing, and we have agreed that we are going to partner together so that we have a co-production of some of these items,” he stated.
He noted that shared security threats, particularly terrorism, made closer cooperation necessary.
“Because of that, we will move into training, production and improving on our defence industrial production, and exchange of officers and soldiers,” Musa said.