Noah Wulf, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The United States has confirmed the deployment of a small team of military personnel to Nigeria to support the country’s fight against terrorism, marking the first official acknowledgement that American forces are now operating on Nigerian soil amid growing security challenges.
The confirmation was made by General Dagvin R. M. Anderson, the head of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), who said the decision followed discussions with President Bola Tinubu in Rome late last year.
According to Anderson, both countries agreed that stronger cooperation was needed to confront terrorist threats across West Africa, leading to the dispatch of the specialised US team.
“That has led to increased collaboration between our nations, to include a small US team that brings some unique capabilities from the United States in order to augment what Nigeria has been doing for several years,” he said during a press briefing on Tuesday.
While the exact date of the team’s arrival was not disclosed, the officers are expected to provide advanced intelligence, planning, and operational support to Nigerian security forces battling extremist groups.
The development comes weeks after US forces carried out airstrikes on December 25 against an Islamic State-linked group in the region, signalling a renewed American military engagement in West Africa’s security efforts.
Authorities in Nigeria are yet to issue an official statement on the deployment as public attention continues to focus on the country’s ongoing fight against insurgency and terrorism.
