The United States says it has no plan to relocate its Africa Command (AFRICOM) from its current headquarters at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany, to Nigeria or any part of Africa.
The United States Department of Defence’ Pentagon, in a email to enquiry by The Punch newspaper on Saturday, said previous studies have shown that the cost of relocating AFRICOM from Germany to Africa is very huge.
This is coming two weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari during a virtual meeting with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on April 27, appealed to the US to consider relocating AFRICOM to Africa to assist Nigeria and other adjoining countries to combat terrorism and other security issues.
AFRICOM is one of the 11 U.S combatant commands responsible for U.S. military operations, including fighting regional conflicts and maintaining military relations with 53 African nations.
Buhari said, “The security challenges in Nigeria remain of great concern to us and impacted more negatively, by existing complex negative pressures in the Sahel, Central and West Africa, as well as the Lake Chad Region.
“The support of important and strategic partners like the United States cannot be overstated as the consequences of insecurity will affect all nations, hence the imperative for concerted cooperation and collaboration of all nations to overcome these challenges.
“In this connection, and considering the growing security challenges in West and Central Africa, Gulf of Guinea, Lake Chad region and the Sahel, weighing heavily on Africa, it underscores the need for the United States to consider relocating AFRICOM headquarters from Stuttgart, Germany to Africa and near the Theatre of Operation.”
However, the US government on Thursday ruled out any plan to relocate AFRICOM from its current base to any part of Africa.
It said although it would continue to value Nigeria and other countries in Africa as important partners, the American government would not consider relocating AFRICOM to any part of the African continent at the moment.
