Nigeria and Italy signs defence agreement

Nigeria and Italy just signed a defence/military assistance and agreement. The Minister of Defence Mansur Dan-Ali disclosed this on Tuesday 27 June, 2017 during a high-profile visit to the Italian Minister of Defence in Rome. He said that the highlights of the pact is that both nations will share technical information and assistance to combat terrorism and other criminal activities. 

The agreement is focused on the area of maritime operations- the exchange of valuable data and experience in conducting naval operations, anti-piracy awareness and oil offshore asset protection.

According to him, It will ”enable both countries hold combined counter piracy exercises and other maritime security activities in international waters and territorial waters of Nigeria.”

”Training of Nigerian Navy personnel ashore and on-board of the Italian vessels and also take measures to improve the readiness of the parties to conduct combined naval operations.”

The pact will grant access to Nigeria “to engage some Italian companies in the area of repairs and re-configuring of some Nigerian Army self-propelled artillery equipment.”

Nigeria remains committed to defending global peace and security by fighting contemporary threats alongside it’s allies.