200 US troops still in Nigeria for joint intelligence, training - DHQ

Nigeria's Defence Headquarters has clarified that 200 U.S. troops continue to operate in the country for joint intelligence and training missions targeting ISIS and other terrorist elements. This statement addresses a foreign news report that had indicated a withdrawal of U.S. forces.

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The partnership between Nigeria and the U.S. is unchanged with key information sharing ongoing.

Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Samaila Uba, explained that the troops mentioned in the foreign report were part of a temporary deployment for a specific mission in the Lake Chad Basin. He emphasized that initial U.S. personnel remain in Nigeria and the partnership between the two nations is unaltered, with crucial information sharing continuing.

"The partnership between Nigeria and the U.S. is unchanged with key information sharing ongoing," Maj.-Gen. Uba stated. He noted that additional forces are sometimes deployed for short-term, specific missions when required. "Nigeria and U.S. continue to work closely together to disrupt and eliminate shared threats and that remains unchanged."

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Nigeria and U.S. continue to work closely together to disrupt and eliminate shared threats and that remains unchanged.

The foreign report had cited the Commander of U.S. Air Forces in Africa, Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson, as announcing the withdrawal after a counter-terrorism operation that reportedly killed an ISIS leader. Anderson was quoted as saying that while most personnel for that specific operation had left, the U.S. would continue intelligence assistance as requested by Nigeria.

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And so, we have withdrawn much of our forces that were just there for that operation, but are continuing the partnership that Nigeria has asked for to help continue with the intelligence sharing and the understanding that’s necessary to be able to prosecute these difficult tasks.