The United States (U.S) has deployed a small team of ground troops to Nigeria to support the fight against Islamic militants, marking the first confirmed presence of American forces on Nigerian soil since U.S. airstrikes carried out during the Christmas period.
The deployment was confirmed on Tuesday by the Commander of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), Gen. Dagvin R. M. Anderson, who said the move followed joint assessments by Washington and Abuja that more coordinated action was needed to counter the growing terrorist threat in West Africa.
He, however, declined to disclose details about the size, duration, or exact scope of the team’s mission.
Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, also confirmed the presence of the U.S. team in the country but said operational details would not be made public.
A former U.S. official familiar with the mission said the American personnel are largely focused on intelligence-gathering and providing operational support that enables Nigerian forces to strike terrorist-affiliated groups, particularly those linked to the Islamic State.
The deployment follows U.S. airstrikes ordered by President Donald Trump in December on what Washington described as Islamic State targets in a village in Sokoto State. The U.S. military said the strike, which was carried out in coordination with Nigerian authorities, killed several ISIS militants. Trump has since warned that further U.S. military action in Nigeria remains possible.
The U.S. move comes amid mounting pressure from Washington on Abuja over security concerns, particularly following Trump’s repeated criticism that Nigeria has failed to protect Christian communities from Islamist militants in parts of the country. Recall that in late October, Trump warned that Christianity faces what he called an “existential threat” in Nigeria, and threatened military intervention if violence continued unchecked.
The Nigerian government has strongly rejected claims of genocide against Christians, insisting that security forces are targeting Islamist fighters and criminal gangs that attack both Christian and Muslim civilians.
