US deploys ground troops to Nigeria

The United States has deployed a “small team” of troops to Nigeria to support ongoing security cooperation.

Dagvin Anderson, general of US Africa Command (AFRICOM), confirmed the development in a press briefing on Tuesday.

Anderson said the deployment marks the first US ground presence in Nigeria since missile strikes were launched in Sokoto during the Donald Trump administration.

The general explained that the move followed his meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Rome late last year.

“That has led to increased collaboration between our nations, to include a small U.S. team that brings some unique capabilities from the United States in order to augment what Nigeria has been doing for several years,” he said.

Anderson did not provide details on the composition of the team or its arrival date in Nigeria.

Earlier, Allison Hooker, US under-secretary of state, led a delegation of eight federal agencies to Abuja for a bilateral working group meeting with Nigerian security officials.

The Nigerian delegation was headed by Nuhu Ribadu, national security adviser (NSA).

The meeting was convened in response to Nigeria being redesignated a ‘country of particular concern’ (CPC) under the Trump administration.

On December 25, 2025, the United States conducted air strikes against two terrorist enclaves in Bauni forest, Tangaza LGA, Sokoto state.