Olushola Omogbehin
The United States has dispatched a small group of military officers to Nigeria, which is the first official US military presence in Nigeria after airstrikes targeted terrorists on Christmas Day 2025.
Head of the U.S. Africa Command, General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, said during a press briefing on Tuesday, “That has led to increased collaboration between our nations to include a small US team that brings some unique capabilities from the United States.”
Reuters reports that the US had been conducting surveillance flights over Nigeria from neighbouring Ghana since at least late November 2025, providing intelligence support ahead of the December strikes.
According to report, the deployment follows an agreement between the Federal Government and Washington to strengthen partnership against growing terrorist threats in West Africa
Defence Minister, Christopher Musa, also confirmed the team’s presence but declined to give further details.
Security sources has revealed that the Americans are likely to involved in intelligence gathering and assisting Nigerian forces in targeting groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province.
However, the Nigerian government has stressed again and again its preference for intelligence sharing, training, and technical support in its security collaboration in the sensitivities surrounding foreign military presence on its territory
