Nigeria’s Federal Government has confirmed that it has approached Turkey for assistance as part of ongoing efforts to address the country’s security challenges, particularly in areas affected by insurgency and banditry.
Okay News reports that President Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s head of state, disclosed this during a meeting with a delegation of the Christian Association of Nigeria, the country’s umbrella body for Christian organisations, led by its President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, at his residence in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.
Tinubu told the delegation that while the general mood of the nation remains peaceful, vast ungoverned spaces continue to pose serious security concerns, requiring sustained cooperation between government, communities, and religious leaders.
The president said some security measures introduced by his administration would take time to yield results, stressing that military hardware procurement is expensive and often delayed due to global supply constraints.
He explained that plans for community and state policing are progressing and would become operational once Nigeria’s National Assembly completes the necessary legislative processes.
Tinubu also revealed that Nigeria has placed orders for four attack helicopters from the United States, noting that delivery would take time, while confirming that his administration has formally sought Turkey’s support to strengthen the country’s security capacity.
The disclosure comes amid renewed scrutiny of Nigeria’s military cooperation with foreign partners, following recent joint operations between Nigeria and the United States targeting terrorist groups in the country’s north-west region.
The development drew criticism from Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, which faulted the Federal Government for not informing Nigerians about the airstrikes before confirmation by US President Donald Trump, who announced the operation on social media.
The party’s spokesman, Ini Ememobong, said the government should have proactively briefed the public to avoid perceptions that it was caught off guard by the announcement.
Meanwhile, Islamic cleric Sheikh Abubakar Gumi criticised the involvement of the United States, urging Nigeria to suspend military cooperation with Washington, warning that foreign intervention could worsen insecurity rather than resolve it.
Gumi instead called on the Federal Government to seek support from what he described as more neutral countries, including China, Turkey, and Pakistan, arguing that Nigeria should carefully manage foreign security partnerships as political tensions ahead of the 2027 elections begin to emerge.
