The European Union is set to provide €20 million in defence assistance to Nigeria to support the Armed Forces in tackling insecurity.

Defence Minister Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.) disclosed this following a meeting with the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, in Abuja.

According to a statement by the minister’s aide, Leah Katung-Babatunde, the support will be delivered under the European Peace Facility.

An EU technical delegation is expected to visit Abuja in November to agree on the modalities for the assistance.

Musa expressed gratitude for the EU’s continued support and reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to protecting lives and property.

He noted that relative peace was gradually returning due to the efforts of the armed forces and other security agencies, though kidnapping along major highways and attacks on isolated communities persist.

The minister also said Nigeria was expecting the delivery of 10 attack helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and other major enablers through the efforts of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

On regional security, he identified the shrinking of the Lake Chad Basin, which supports more than 50 million people, as a potential source of instability.