Nigeria signed Patton Boggs to a one-year $3M contract for counsel on defense and security issues with the U.S.

A key focus for PB’s partner Gordon Arbuckle and senior defense policy advisor John Garrett is donation of U.S. military and law enforcement equipment to oil-rich Nigeria.

Arbuckle works with PB clients on matters related to the business and environmental impact on energy and infrastructure projects.

Amnesty International earlier this month issued a report on widespread oil spills in Nigeria. It blamed pipeline corrosion and equipment failures as the major cause for the spills and named Shell Oil and Italy’s ENI as culprits.

Garrett, a retired Marine Corps colonel, focuses on lining up PB clients for federal grants/awards in the homeland security and Iraq/Afghanistan reconstruction markets.

On Nov. 13, the U.S. State Dept. designated Nigeria’s Islamic breakaway group Boko Haram a terrorist organization.

The U.S. marines have been working with the Nigerian military to combat piracy off the African nation’s coast.

PB’s contract is with Nigeria’s national security advisor.