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The U.S. government said on Friday it has no plans to establish any military bases in Nigeria.
This was disclosed by the Head of the West Africa Coordination Section of the US Department of Defence, United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), Major General Kenneth Ekman, during a media roundtable with selected journalists in Abuja.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the roundtable was for Ekman to explain the purpose of his visit to Nigeria.
“Now, coming to the situation in Nigeria, I want to tell you upfront that the United States has no plans to establish a base in Nigeria.
“I wanted to discuss this with you because I think it’s an issue of universal concern.
“I recognize that the U.S. military presence has both costs and benefits, depending on the circumstances.
“I am here to talk about how regional security issues affect Nigeria.
“This is because Nigeria has such a strong military and is a dominant force in West Africa,” he said.
Ekman stressed that Nigeria and the United States had not discussed establishing a military base, which had been speculated after the US announced its withdrawal.
Also read: Nigerian minister says not considering setting up military bases in US, France
“I am not aware of any discussion between the US and Nigerian authorities regarding the establishment of a US base in Nigeria after the Niger withdrawal.
“I want to make that very clear, I’m not surprised that some people think that this is being discussed,” he said.
He explained that AFRICOM and the Department of Defense have been supporting the three major goals of democracy, government and human rights in Africa.
According to him, support also includes mutually beneficial trade and investment, human capital development and cooperation with the authorities on security, stability and prosperity.
“While our goals have not changed, they are shared goals between the United States and our African partners, they have become more difficult to achieve.
“When AFRICOM operates in West Africa, we do nothing ourselves. Everything we do is conducted through partner-led, U.S.-supported operations.
“So we don’t do this for our partners. We help them do it and do it better.”
“This is for exercise, for training, for providing security assistance.
“All of this is built on a solid foundation of security cooperation,” he said.
U.S. Charge d’Affaires in Nigeria David Greene also said in May that there were no plans to establish any bases in the country.
“I am not aware of any such conversation and I am not quite sure for whose sake this is being advocated.
“We will continue to have very close security cooperation with the Nigerian security services, the Nigerian military and the Nigerian government, always in a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect.”
Likewise, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Mohammed, also denied allegations that the United States was planning to establish a military base in Nigeria.
“The Federal Government is not in such discussion with any foreign country. We have neither received nor considered any proposal from any country to establish a foreign military base in Nigeria.
“The Nigerian government has secured foreign cooperation in addressing ongoing security challenges and the president remains committed to deepening these partnerships to achieve the national security objectives of the ‘Restoring Hope Agenda,’” Idris said in a statement.
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