Tinubu arrives in Rome for Aqaba process summit

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has arrived in Rome, Italy, ahead of the Aqaba Process Heads of State and Government Meeting, a high-level summit dedicated to addressing the escalating security challenges in West Africa.

The Presidential aircraft landed at the Rome Fiumicino International Airport around 7:20 p.m. local time on Wednesday, where the President was warmly received by senior Italian government officials, members of the Nigerian diplomatic corps, and top presidential aides.

The high-level meeting, which opens tomorrow, will bring together Heads of State and Government, senior intelligence and military officials from African countries, as well as representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations.

Participants are expected to deliberate on the evolving security landscape in West Africa and develop coordinated responses to terrorism and transnational crime.

Launched in 2015 by King Abdullah II of Jordan, the Aqaba Process is a global counter-terrorism initiative aimed at enhancing cooperation and intelligence sharing among nations confronting violent extremism.

The current edition, co-chaired by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Italian Government, will focus on the complex security threats facing the region — including the expansion of terrorist networks, the growing nexus between crime and terrorism, and the overlap between land-based insurgency in the Sahel and maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.