Nigeria to Send 200 Special Forces to Türkiye for Training - Minister

20 April 2026
Daily Trust (Abuja)

The Minister of Defence, retired Gen. Christopher Musa, has said that Nigeria and Türkiye have reached an agreement to immediately deploy 200 Nigerian Special Forces for training in Türkiye.

Musa disclosed this in an interview on the sidelines of the 5th Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF2026) in Antalya, Türkiye, on Saturday, following discussions with his Turkish counterpart, Yasar Guler.

The three-day forum, themed "Mapping Tomorrow, Managing Uncertainties," which started on Friday, is attended by world leaders, ministers, and diplomats, among others.

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The minister explained that, following the agreement, Türkiye had allocated a training quota of 200 personnel from Nigeria's Special Forces, who will be deployed immediately upon their return to Nigeria.

"We have a Special Forces training agreement. Türkiye has agreed to give us 200 Special Forces trainees, so as soon as I return, we are sending them here for training.

"We will continue to do a lot. There will be exercises. The first exercise is coming up later in the year. So, in so many areas of defence, we are going to work together," he said.

The minister also disclosed that Nigeria and Türkiye had both agreed on joint defence equipment production and the transfer of military technology.

According to him, Türkiye has a lot of defence experience from which Nigeria could learn through shared experiences.

"I've had a meeting with the Turkish Minister of Defence, where we shared a lot of ideas on how to improve our relationship, defence-wise.

"Türkiye has improved dramatically with regard to the production of military hardware.

"Nigeria is still developing, and we have agreed that we are going to partner together so that we have a co-production of some of these items," he said.

The minister noted that while Nigeria had been fighting asymmetric warfare against insurgency for about 17 years, Türkiye has had a similar experience of fighting against terrorism for 40 years.

He added: "Because of that, we will move into training, production and improving on our defence, industrial production, and exchange of officers and soldiers." (AFP/NAN)

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