About 100 United States soldiers have arrived in Nigeria to train Nigerian forces and provide intelligence support as the country battles escalating threats from Islamist militants and other armed groups. According to Nigeria’s defence spokesperson, Samaila Uba, the troops and their equipment landed at an airfield in Bauchi State. He stressed that the deployment was made at the request of the Nigerian government and that US personnel will not take part in combat operations.
The arrival underscores deepening military cooperation between Abuja and Washington, coming weeks after US airstrikes on Christmas Day targeted camps run by the Islamist group Lakurawa in Sokoto State, strikes Nigeria says were approved by President Bola Tinubu. Nigeria is confronting multiple security crises, including a long-running Islamist insurgency led by Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province, widespread kidnappings and raids by criminal gangs known locally as bandits, farmer-herder clashes, and separatist unrest in parts of the south-east.
Maj Gen Uba said the cooperation would provide Nigeria with specialised technical capabilities to improve intelligence gathering, deter terrorist threats and better protect vulnerable communities. He added that the deployment followed discussions between Nigerian and US defence officials under a bilateral working group. Earlier this month, US Africa Command confirmed that a small number of American troops were already operating in Nigeria, with Nigerian officials previously indicating that up to 200 additional personnel could be deployed.
The security partnership has also drawn political attention in the United States. Late last year, the administration of former US President Donald Trump raised concerns about the safety of Christian communities in Nigeria—claims Abuja strongly rejected, saying victims of violence cut across religious and ethnic lines. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is home to more than 250 ethnic groups and remains broadly divided between a mainly Muslim north and a largely Christian south, with overlapping communities in the central regions.
