U.S. deploys 100 soldiers to Nigeria as security cooperation begins

NIGERIA’s counter-insurgency strategy has entered a new phase with the arrival of the first batch of American troops, as Washington begins a limited military support mission aimed at strengthening local security forces.

About 100 personnel from the United States military landed late Thursday in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, according to multiple reports. Their arrival forms part of a planned 200-member deployment that will expand in the coming days.

The operation is expected to provide Nigeria with advanced intelligence capabilities, strategic advisory services and specialised training as troops battle insurgent groups across the country’s most troubled regions.

By Friday evening, three U.S. aircraft had arrived at the Maiduguri base, with visible offloading of equipment. More aircraft and personnel are expected over the weekend and in the weeks ahead, officials from both countries confirmed.

A senior U.S. Defense Department source told the New York Times that the deployment will involve a steady rotation of C-17 military transport aircraft into three major locations across Nigeria. The official said the current arrivals represent only the opening phase of a broader cooperation effort.

READ ALSO: Trump supplies Nigeria with key military materials to fight terrorism

Unlike previous foreign military interventions, Nigerian authorities insist that the Americans will not be fighting on the battlefield.

Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa, said the U.S. troops would not engage in combat or command operations. He stressed that Nigerian security forces would remain fully in charge of all missions and decisions on Nigerian soil.

Supporting this position, defence spokesman, Mr Samaila Ubah, stated that the deployment followed the recommendations of a joint U.S.–Nigeria security working group, noting that the American team would provide technical, intelligence and advisory support across several locations.

The Pentagon official also confirmed that U.S. personnel would operate mainly from command centres and training facilities rather than frontline areas.

According to security experts, the mission’s footprint will extend across northern Nigeria and parts of the Middle Belt, where violent attacks have persisted for years. A Nigerian official familiar with the arrangement said the regions include areas affected by Boko Haram as well as communities in the Middle Belt where both Christian and Muslim populations have been targeted.

The deployment follows months of diplomatic pressure from former U.S. President Donald Trump, who repeatedly criticised Nigeria’s handling of insecurity, particularly attacks on Christians. Authorities, however, maintain that the violence has affected citizens of all religious backgrounds.

Tensions peaked late last year when Trump authorised a U.S. missile strike in Nigeria on Christmas Day, aimed at what he described as terrorists responsible for mass killings. The strike triggered international concern and raised questions about the limits of U.S. involvement in Nigeria’s security operations.

The New York Times reported that the new troop arrival will strengthen a smaller group of American advisers already working with Nigerian forces. Those advisers have been involved in training programs covering operational planning, map navigation, strike coordination and rescue missions.

Both governments insist the mission is strictly supportive and advisory in nature, designed to improve Nigeria’s capacity to confront terrorism while preserving full national sovereignty.

Sequence of events

In early November, U.S. President DonaldTrump had designated Nigeria as a ‘country of concern’ and threatened to cut off aid and enter the nation to root out terrorists if the government failed to take action against the alleged Christian genocide. “If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.

Mr Trump later appointed House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) and Rep. Riley Moore (R-West Virginia) to lead the investigation into the matter.

READ ALSO: U.S. conducts surveillance flights over Nigeria amid Trump threats

The U.S. delegation came to Nigeria to see things for themselves. But while they were still in Nigeria, Mr Trump added Africa’s most populous nation to the list of countries on partial entry restrictions to the United States.

The new Proclamation released by the White House recently added Nigeria and 14 other nations to the list of countries partially restricted from entering the U.S., which also included Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

On the reason for including Nigeria to the list, the Proclamation said, “Radical Islamic terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State operate freely in certain parts of Nigeria, which creates substantial screening and vetting difficulties. According to the Overstay Report, Nigeria had a B-1/B-2 visa overstay rate of 5.56 percent and an F, M, and J visa overstay rate of 11.90 percent.”

The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria subsequently announced a partial suspension of visa issuance beginning January 1, 2026.

On December 22, news broke that the United States had been carrying out intelligence-gathering flights over large parts of Nigeria since late November, according to flight-tracking data and current and former U.S. officials, signalling heightened security engagement between Washington and Abuja, Reuters reported.

Although Reuters said on Monday it could not confirm the precise objectives of the flights, the report marked the first confirmation by a major international news agency that U.S. surveillance missions are under way over Nigeria.

Flight-tracking data for December showed the contractor-operated aircraft typically departed from Ghana, flew over Nigeria, and returned to Accra. The operator was Mississippi-based Tenax Aerospace, a company that provides special-mission aircraft and works closely with the U.S. military, according to its website. The company did not respond to requests for comment, Reuters said.

On December, President Trump carried out airstrikes in North-West Nigeria on Christmas night, targeting ISIS militants he accused of killing Christians. He described the operation as ‘decisive’ and warned that more strikes would follow if the violence continued. Since then, the cooperation between the U.S. and Nigeria has grown fron strength to strength.