It is officially confirmed that the United States (U.S) have sent a small team of troops to Nigeria as part of collaborative measures by the Federal Government to effectively tackle Boko Haram insurgency and banditry in the country.
The General in charge of the U.S. Command for Africa dropped the hints on Tuesday being the first public acknowledgement that U.S. forces are on the ground since Washington struck insurgents’ targets by air on the eve of 2025 Christmas.
According to the top General, the U.S. team was sent after both countries agreed that more needed to be done to combat the terrorist threat in West Africa.
General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, Head of the U.S. Military’s Africa Command (AFRICOM), told journalists at a briefing yesterday that the arrangement “has led to increased collaboration between our nations to include a small US team that brings some unique capabilities from the United States”.
However, the American General did not provide further details about the size and scope of their mission in Nigeria
Also, confirmation that a team was already working in Nigeria came from the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (rtd), but no further details on the arrangements were given.
Meanwhile, available information from a former U.S. official indicate that the U.S. team seems heavily involved in intelligence gathering aimed at enhancing Nigerian troops’ capacity to strike terrorists, bandits and other affiliated insurgency groups.
Though Nigeria has come under intense pressure by Washington to act after President Trump accused the West African nation of failing to protect Christians from Islamist militants operating in the northwest, the Nigerian government has consistently denied any systematic persecution of Christians in the country.
On the December 25 mission, the U.S. Military’s Africa Command said the strike was carried out in Sokoto State in coordination with Nigerian authorities and killed multiple ISIS militants.
The airstrikes were ordered by President Donald Trump following what he described as Islamic State targets in Nigeria, adding that there could be more U.S. military action coming. Trump had in late October began warning that Christianity faced an “existential threat” in Nigeria and threatened to militarily intervene over what he said was its failure to stop violence targeting Christian communities.
Agency reports had also indicated that the U.S. have been conducting surveillance flights over the country from Ghana since at least late November.
However, since that fateful strike, Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters seem to have intensified attacks on military convoys and civilians, with the north-west and North Central being the epicentre of kidnapping and banditry operations in recent times.
