The European Union (EU) has pledged a defence support to the Armed Forces of Nigeria totalling €20 million.

The special assistant on media to the minister of defence, Leah Katung-Babatunde, disclosed the development in a statement on Saturday.

According to her, the proposed support was discussed when Christopher Musa, minister of defence, met with Gautier Mignot, EU ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, at the Ship House in Abuja.

She said the meeting focused on key bilateral defence agreements, including a review of security cooperation between Nigeria and the EU.

She added that Mignot commended Musa’s efforts to improve the country’s security situation and invited him to a meeting of defence ministers in Brussels later in the year.

Katung-Babatunde added that the discussions centred on arrangements for the EU’s €20 million bilateral assistance to the AFN under the European Peace Facility (EPF).

She said the ambassador noted that an EU technical delegation would visit Nigeria in November to agree on the details.

Musa thanked the EU for its continued support for Nigeria and reaffirmed President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to protecting lives and promoting national development.

The minister said relative peace was gradually returning to troubled parts of the country through the efforts of the armed forces and other security agencies.

He said that kidnapping along major highways and attacks on isolated communities remained a challenge.

Musa added that Nigeria was expecting the delivery of 10 attack helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other military equipment to strengthen security operations.

He identified the shrinking of the Lake Chad Basin, which supports more than 50 million people, as a source of instability.

The minister said denying terrorists access to holding areas on the Lake Chad islands remained a key operational priority for the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF).

On the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programme, Musa said the initiative would prioritise victims, including military personnel affected by the conflict.

The suspended commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Niger state, Suberu Aniviye, has said that the deaths of suspected illegal miners in custody was a costly and avoidable mistake.

The embattled commandant reportedly apologised to the victims’ families while testifying before a panel of inquiry investigating the deaths in Minna, the Niger state capital. The panel is chaired by Mohammed Mohammed, a judge.

He described the incident as a costly mistake that occurred during his tenure.

Also, while giving evidence, Stephen Tsado, suspended head of the NSCDC legal unit, said that he had advised Aniviye to release the underage suspects to their parents on bail, but his advice was not heeded.

Aniviye said the operation followed complaints from residents around M.I. Wushishi Housing Estate about mining activities in their communities.

According to him, he visited the site on September 15 before deploying mining marshals, who arrested the suspected illegal miners the following evening.

Aniviye told the commission that he learnt of the deaths through a telephone call on September 17 and returned to the command’s office, where he found bodies lying on the detention cell floor.

He said he informed Umaru Bago, governor of Niger state, who directed that the bodies be taken to the mortuary, adding that he also contacted the state commissioner of police and the director of the Department of State Services (DSS).

According to him, the suspects were scheduled to be arraigned in court on September 17 before their deaths.

Maryam Etang, a nurse attached to the command’s medical unit, told the commission she was shocked to find the body of one Emeka Emmanuel among those brought out of the cell. She said Emmanuel was not among the miners arrested during the operation.

It would be recalled that 37 suspected illegal miners arrested in M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto villages in Niger state died in NSCDC custody in September.

Aniviye had said the suspects were arrested during operations conducted on September 15 and 16.

Following the death of the 37 miners, the Federal Government suspended Aniviye and ordered an investigation into the deaths.

It also constituted a 10-member independent committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential campaign council has accused the vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Rabiu Kwankwaso, of undermining the opposition to advance President Bola Tinubu’s re-election chances in 2027.

Kola Ologbondiyan, director of media and publicity of the ADC-PCC, in a statement on Friday, said Kwankwaso had been attacking opposition leaders instead of criticising the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government.

Ologbondiyan was reacting to Kwankwaso’s recent call for Atiku Abubakar, the ADC presidential candidate, to step down for Peter Obi, the NDC flagbearer, ahead of the 2027 elections.

He described the call as reckless and self-serving, alleging that it was an attempt to divide the opposition for the APC’s benefit.

According to him, Kwankwaso should focus on strengthening the opposition rather than undermining another opposition leader, adding that Atiku would win Kano, the former governor’s home state, with or without his support.

“Rather than campaigning against President Tinubu, whose administration Nigerians are eagerly working to vote out, Kwankwaso is fixated on Atiku Abubakar, the ADC candidate, whom millions of Nigerians believe can restore economic stability and make life affordable again,” he said.

“What Kwankwaso is doing amounts to advancing President Tinubu’s interests. It is a familiar APC strategy to use willing collaborators within the opposition to create confusion, sow division and weaken the collective efforts to bring about political change.

“Nigerians are wiser than that and will not allow themselves to be distracted by political manoeuvres designed to rescue an unpopular administration.”

The ADC-PCC spokesperson further alleged that Kwankwaso’s intervention was driven more by personal ambition and calculations for future political negotiations than by a genuine desire to strengthen Obi’s chances.

“He appears to believe that by pushing the South-east narrative, he can position himself for a future bargain with the ruling party. It is an old-style political calculation that Nigerians are increasingly unwilling to accept,” he said.

Ologbondiyan also questioned Kwankwaso’s political consistency, citing his movement across different parties as evidence of what he described as repeated political repositioning.

“From the PDP to the APC, back to the PDP, then to the NNPP, the ADC, and now the NDC, Kwankwaso’s political journey calls for serious reflection. His latest interventions appear to be taking him back into the political shadows of the APC,” he said.

Contrasting Atiku’s political reach with Kwankwaso’s, Ologbondiyan described the ADC candidate as a nationally established politician with extensive networks across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

“Atiku Abubakar is a cosmopolitan, detribalised and nationally recognised political figure who has built relationships across the North, South, East and West over more than three decades,” he said.

“Kwankwaso, on the other hand, has concentrated much of his political strength within Kano State. His ability to translate that regional influence into broad national electoral success remains a major question.”

The ADC-PCC urged Nigerians to disregard what it described as Kwankwaso’s attention-seeking intervention and support Atiku and the ADC’s bid to “rescue, recover and rebuild” the country.