The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, on Tuesday joined the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Gwabin Musa (rtd), and other senior military and government officials at a high-level international forum on the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) and security in the Lake Chad region.
The forum, held at the National Defence College (NDC), Abuja, brought together regional and international stakeholders to deliberate on ways to strengthen the MNJTF and improve its capacity to respond to evolving security and governance challenges in the Lake Chad Basin and the wider Sahel.
Organised by the Irregular Warfare Centre of the NDC, the forum focused on repositioning the MNJTF through enhanced regional cooperation, intelligence sharing, operational coordination and sustainable support for its counter-terrorism operations.
A major highlight was a keynote address by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, titled, “Strengthening the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Light of Evolving Governance and Security Challenges in the Sahel.”
The Minister emphasised the need for sustained regional cooperation and collective action to confront increasingly complex and transnational security threats across the Sahel.
The forum was attended by the Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs, Chief of Defence Intelligence, former Chiefs of Defence Staff, senior military officers, government officials and other strategic stakeholders.
Representatives of the Chiefs of Defence Staff of Niger, Cameroon, Benin and Chad also participated, alongside officials from the African Union, Lake Chad Basin Commission, troop-contributing countries and international partners.
Discussions centred on strengthening intelligence sharing, command and control, logistics, sustainable financing and operational coordination among member states.
The engagements are expected to enhance the effectiveness of the MNJTF in combating terrorism and other emerging threats while supporting efforts to achieve lasting peace and stability in the Lake Chad Basin and the wider Sahel.
