A top US official, Jonathan Burke, will be visiting Nigeria to discuss strengthening security cooperation and countering terrorism financing with the Nigerian government.
Mr Burke, the US Department of the Treasury’s Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, is scheduled to visit Nigeria from Monday to Tuesday this week.
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In a statement issued on Sunday, the US embassy in Nigeria said the visit is part of the “Trump administration’s efforts to reduce violence against Christians and other vulnerable groups.”
Mr Burke will meet with both government authorities and private sector stakeholders to discuss the “risks to the financial sector” and “strengthen safeguards.”
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Mr Burke will be the second top US official to visit Nigeria this year.
A month ago, a high-level US delegation led by Under Secretary of State Allison Hooker visited Nigeria.
The officials held the first session of a joint working group focused on addressing the terror attacks against Nigerian Christians with Nigerian authorities.
Last year, a Congressional delegation visited Abuja and met with Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu.
PREMIUM TIMES also reported the visit of a Nigerian delegation, led by Mr Ribadu. The delegation met with top US officials, including Secretary of War Peter Hegseth.
This series of visits by top officials between Nigeria and the US began following Mr Trump’s verbal antagonism toward Nigeria.
It followed the designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.
This also led to a US strike on suspected terrorists in the North-west of Nigeria in December.
PREMIUM TIMES reported the strikes, with Mr Trump saying they were part of the US effort to quell the operations of radical Islamic groups in the country.
Two weeks ago, three US aircraft arrived in Nigeria. About 100 United States military personnel arrived in what appears to be the first wave of the planned deployment of 200 troops to assist their Nigerian counterparts in fighting terrorism.
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