The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, joined the Honourable Minister of Defence (HMOD), General Christopher Gwabin Musa (rtd), senior military leaders, government officials, and international stakeholders at the opening of a High-Level International Forum on the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) and Security in the Lake Chad Region, held at the National Defence College (NDC), Abuja.
The forum, organised by the Irregular Warfare Centre of the NDC, brought together key regional and international stakeholders to examine strategies for repositioning and strengthening the MNJTF to effectively respond to evolving security and governance challenges in the Lake Chad Basin and the wider Sahel.
A major highlight of the forum was a keynote address delivered by the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, titled, “Strengthening the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Light of Evolving Governance and Security Challenges in the Sahel.” The address underscored the imperative of sustained regional cooperation and collective action in addressing the complex and increasingly transnational security threats confronting the region.
The forum also attracted the Executive Governor of Taraba State, the Honourable Ministers of Defence and Finance, the Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs, the Chief of Defence Intelligence, former Chiefs of Defence Staff, senior military officers, and other strategic stakeholders.
Also in attendance were representatives of the Chiefs of Defence Staff of Niger, Cameroon, Benin, and Chad, as well as representatives of the African Union, the Lake Chad Basin Commission, Troop-Contributing Countries, and international partners.
Deliberations at the forum focused on developing practical measures to strengthen regional security cooperation, intelligence sharing, command and control, logistics, sustainable financing, and operational coordination. The engagements are expected to further enhance the capacity and effectiveness of the MNJTF in confronting terrorism and other emerging security threats, while contributing to enduring peace, security, and stability across the Lake Chad Basin and the wider Sahel.
