By ZAKAA LAZARUS
The Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, has called for stronger regional maritime cooperation and urged more African militaries to join the Combined Maritime Task Force–Gulf of Guinea (CMTF-GoG) to collectively address Africa’s security challenges.
The CNS made the call on Friday, 11 September 2026, while receiving the Chief of Staff, ECOWAS Standby Force, Brigadier General Sheikh Sulaiman Massaquoi, during a courtesy visit to Naval Headquarters, Abuja, according to a statement signed by Navy Captain Abiodun Folorunsho, Director Naval Information.
Vice Admiral Abbas highlighted Nigeria’s growing contribution to regional security through practical maritime and strategic sealift support. He cited the recent movement of Chinese-donated ECOWAS equipment destined for frontline countries, including Benin Republic and Sierra Leone. The non-lethal field-support items, he said, are intended to strengthen operational and humanitarian capacity.
He also recalled the Nigerian Navy’s strategic sealift of military hardware to Guinea-Bissau in 2022, when NNS KADA transported equipment for the Nigerian contingent deployed under the ECOWAS Stabilisation Support Mission.
The CNS advocated stronger synergy between the ECOWAS Standby Force and CMTF-GoG, noting that maritime security threats increasingly straddle both land and sea.
He said shared capabilities, intelligence and coordinated responses were critical, and encouraged more African states to join CMTF-GoG to build a broader regional security architecture against transnational maritime threats.
Vice Admiral Abbas further called for the strengthening of the ECOWAS Standby Force to ensure it remains operationally ready and rapidly deployable against terrorism, insurgency and other forms of organised cross-border crime.
“As Africa’s security challenges become increasingly interconnected, no nation can confront them effectively in isolation,” he said. “A coordinated regional response, anchored on shared intelligence, interoperable forces, joint operations, and sustained political commitment, represents the future of African security.”
Brigadier General Massaquoi conveyed greetings from the President of the ECOWAS Commission and acknowledged Nigeria’s significant role in regional security. He expressed appreciation for Nigeria’s continued support of ECOWAS initiatives and underscored the need to strengthen the maritime component of the regional security architecture.
The engagement, the Navy said, reinforced the importance of Nigeria’s strategic leadership, regional interoperability, and broader African participation in building a more responsive maritime security framework for the Gulf of Guinea and the wider West African sub-region.
