US confirms deployment of troops to Nigeria to counter terror threats

The United States military has confirmed that a small team of US forces has been deployed to Nigeria, marking the first official acknowledgement of American troops operating on the ground in the West African nation since US airstrikes last December.

Dagvin Anderson, head of the U.S. Africa Command, said the deployment follows a mutual agreement between the United States and the Nigerian government to strengthen efforts against terror threats in the region.

Anderson described the unit as providing “unique US capabilities” but did not disclose specific details about the team’s size, mission scope or exact activities. Nigeria’s Defence Minister Christopher Musa also confirmed the presence of US personnel but offered no further specifics.

The deployment comes amid a long-running insurgency in Nigeria, particularly involving Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province, which have intensified attacks in the northeast. Both factions have made efforts to expand to the northwest and north central, where banditry, resource-based conflict and other forms of violence have continued to destabilise local communities.

The confirmation follows US airstrikes in December 2025 on what President Donald Trump described as Islamic State camps in northeast Nigeria. While US and Nigerian officials said the strikes were successful, undetonated explosives believed to be debris from the strikes were found in civilian areas in Kwara, Niger and Sokoto states.

The December strikes came weeks after Trump threatened to go “guns a blazing” into what he called the “now disgraced country” after redesignating Nigeria as a country of particular concern over claims of “Christian genocide.”

The Nigerian government disputed the Christian genocide narrative, arguing that people of all faiths were victims of insurgency and banditry. It urged the US to help dismantle terror networks instead of promoting narratives that could further polarise the country.

Washington has also conducted surveillance flights over Nigeria from Ghana.

SOURCE: Reuters