Osman Chennar: The Lebanese Broker Behind Turkey’s Nigerian Arms Deals

A Lebanese businessman based in Abuja has quietly become one of the most significant figures in Nigeria’s evolving defence partnerships. His name is Osman Chennar, and his firm, D7G, sits at the centre of Turkey’s growing military footprint in Africa’s largest country.

Chennar’s D7G is a military equipment brokerage that represents some of Turkey’s most powerful defence manufacturers, including Turkish Aerospace Industries, Aselsan, and Roketsan. His company operates through a Turkish-registered entity, D7G Savunma Sanayi, and works closely with a network of retired Nigerian military generals who help steer deals through the country’s security establishment.

His most concrete achievement so far came in 2022, when the Nigerian Air Force acquired six T-129 ATAK attack helicopters from Turkish Aerospace Industries. Chennar was directly tasked with overseeing the multi-million-dollar contract and managing the integration of the aircraft’s weapons systems.

The work goes beyond procurement. Through the DICON-D7G initiative, Chennar’s firm is partnering with Nigeria’s state-owned Defence Industries Corporation to push the country toward local arms assembly and technology transfer, a shift from simply buying hardware to eventually producing it domestically.

The broader framework underpinning all of this was formalised at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, where Nigeria and Turkey sealed agreements on intelligence sharing, the training of 200 Nigerian Special Forces on Turkish soil, and the construction of a permanent military training facility in Nigeria. Turkish firm DASAL Aviation Technologies is also entering the Nigerian market with kamikaze and cargo drones.

Africa Intelligence, which first reported on Chennar’s role, has not alleged any wrongdoing. What the report does make clear is that significant defence arrangements are being shaped, at least in part, by a private intermediary whose work is quiet.