President Bola Tinubu has returned to Abuja after participating in the Aqaba Process Heads of State and Government-level Meeting held in Rome, Italy.
The Aqaba Process is a counter-terrorism initiative launched in 2015 by His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan. It is co-chaired by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Government of Italy, reports Sunday Guardian.
This year’s Rome edition focused on deepening regional and international collaboration in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism, with a particular emphasis on West Africa.
The high-level meeting took place on Wednesday, October 15, at the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome.
It drew several Heads of State and Government, including King Abdullah II of Jordan, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and the Presidents of Nigeria, Chad, Paraguay, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
Also in attendance were Azouz Nasri, President of Algeria’s Upper House, as well as delegations from Côte d’Ivoire, Kazakhstan, Mauritania, Senegal, and Uzbekistan, special envoys, and security experts. The deliberations were held behind closed doors.
On the sidelines, President Tinubu held bilateral meetings with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Massad Boulos, Senior Adviser on Arab and African Affairs to U.S. President Donald Trump.
He also met with the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to discuss religious harmony in Nigeria.
The talks addressed widespread disinformation campaigns that misrepresent the country as intolerant of religious diversity.
Since its inception in 2015, the Aqaba Process has convened 33 meetings at various levels, from Heads of State summits to technical expert sessions, anchored on three pillars: prevention, coordination, and closing operational gaps in counterterrorism efforts.
