The Chief of Staff, ECOWAS Standby Force (COS ESF), Brigadier General Sheikh Sulaiman Massaquoi, accompanied by military staff officers of the ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF) and the Peace Support Operations Division (PSOD) of the ECOWAS Commission, on Friday, 11 September 2026, paid a courtesy call on the Nigerian Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, at the Naval Headquarters, Abuja.

The visit formed part of ongoing engagements aimed at strengthening cooperation between the Military component of ECOWAS Comission and the Nigerian Navy, particularly in the areas of regional security, maritime cooperation, strategic mobility, logistics support and operational readiness.

During the engagement, Brigadier General Massaquoi conveyed greetings from the President of the ECOWAS Commission and the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security (CPAPS) and expressed appreciation for Nigeria’s significant and sustained contribution to regional peace and security initiatives. He acknowledged the strategic role of the Nigerian Navy in supporting ECOWAS operations and highlighted the importance of strengthening the maritime dimension of the regional security architecture.

In his remarks, the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, called for stronger regional maritime cooperation and greater participation by African militaries in collective efforts to address common security challenges. He briefly referenced the Combined Maritime Task Force–Gulf of Guinea (CMTF-GoG) as one of the initiatives capable of promoting cooperation among regional states in addressing maritime security threats.

Vice Admiral Abbas also recalled the Nigerian Navy’s strategic sealift of military hardware to Guinea-Bissau in 2022, when NNS KADA transported equipment for the Nigerian contingent deployed under the ECOWAS Stabilisation Support Mission. The operation demonstrated the Nigerian Navy’s capacity to provide strategic maritime logistics support for regional peace and security initiatives.

The CNS underscored the need for stronger cooperation between the Military Component of ECOWAS Comission and regional military institutions, noting that contemporary security threats increasingly cut across national boundaries and require coordinated responses, shared intelligence, interoperability and sustained collaboration among Member States.

He further called for sustained efforts to strengthen the ECOWAS Standby Force to ensure that it remains operationally ready and capable of responding effectively to transnational security threats, including terrorism, insurgency and organised cross-border crime.

The CNS stressed that the increasingly interconnected nature of the region’s security challenges requires a coordinated approach anchored on shared intelligence, interoperable forces, effective logistics support and sustained political commitment.

Brigadier General Massaquoi, while appreciating the Nigerian Navy for its continued support to ECOWAS initiatives, thanked the CNS for approving the strategic sealift support and movement of Chinese-donated ECOWAS equipment destined for frontline countries including Benin Republic and Sierra Leone, as an example of the importance of regional logistics and mobility in supporting collective security efforts and also reiterated the importance of strengthening cooperation between the Military Component of the ECOWAS comission and regional military institutions, particularly in enhancing operational readiness, mobility and collective response capabilities.

The courtesy visit provided an opportunity for both sides to exchange views on regional security challenges and reaffirm their commitment to enhanced cooperation, interoperability, strategic mobility and the development of a more responsive regional security architecture within the West African sub-region.