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US drones deployed to Nigeria alongside troops for intelligence, training

Summary
US troops provide training, intelligence support to Nigerian military

US MQ-9 drones now based in Nigeria for intelligence, not air strikes

No fixed timeline for US deployment in Nigeria -officials

LONDON, March 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. military has multiple MQ-9 drones operating in Nigeria alongside 200 troops to provide training and intelligence support to the military, which is fighting Islamist militants across the north, U.S. and ‌Nigerian officials told Reuters.

The troops are not integrated within Nigerian units on the frontline and the drones are collecting intelligence and not carrying out airstrikes, officials from the two countries said.

However, the U.S. deployment, which follows U.S. airstrikes targeting militants in northwest Nigeria in late 2025, shows the U.S. getting back involved in tackling Islamic State and al Qaeda-linked insurgencies that are spreading across West Africa.

The U.S. military previously had a $100 million drone base in neighbouring Niger with about 1,000 troops monitoring militants across the Sahel region, but that was closed in ⁠2024 after the Niger junta requested their departure, part of a broader rejection of western military support by countries in the Sahel region.

A U.S. defence official said the drones had been deployed alongside troops at the request of the Nigerians to collect intelligence. "We see this as a shared security threat," the official said.

Major General Samaila Uba, director of defence information at Nigeria's Defence Headquarters, confirmed that the U.S. was operating assets from Bauchi airfield in the northeast.
"This support builds on the newly established U.S.-Nigeria intelligence fusion cell, which continues to deliver actionable intelligence to our ‌field commanders," ⁠he told Reuters. "Our U.S. partners remain in a strictly non-combat role, enabling operations led by Nigerian authorities."

'IDENTIFY, TRACK AND RESPOND'

Uba said the timeline for the U.S. deployment in Nigeria would be determined in agreement by both sides.

MQ-9 drones, which are sometimes known as Reaper drones and can loiter at high altitude for more than 27 hours, can be used for both intelligence gathering and airstrikes.

Neither Uba nor the U.S. official would comment on specific cases where U.S. intelligence had ⁠led to the Nigerians targeting militants, but Uba said that U.S. forces were helping Nigeria "identify, track and respond to terrorist threats".

SpencerForbes:
Anything against terrorism, I’m hundred percent in. Terrorist are the weeds in this planet earth and they need to be uprooted.

BigYash:
What's the effect of those they sent before. When that copa boy was being humiliated by the bandits,I was expecting the US awa to go help get him out. But no help came his way.. Now I believe the US has mission,it's totally outside this insecurity shit

Tenses:
I think the tinubu government is not giving them the full cooperation to perform.

BigYash:
I think so too,so there is no need sending additional 200 US awa

Tenses:
What this tunubu people don't know is that this US troops are gathering intelligence. At the appropriate time the can of worms will be let open.

SpencerForbes:
Anything against terrorism, I’m hundred percent in. Terrorist are the weeds in this planet earth and they need to be uprooted.

Tenses:
I think the tinubu government is not giving them the full cooperation to perform.

BigYash:
What's the effect of those they sent before. When that copa boy was being humiliated by the bandits,I was expecting the US awa to go help get him out. But no help came his way.. Now I believe the US has mission,it's totally outside this insecurity shit

BigYash:
What's the effect of those they sent before. When that copa boy was being humiliated by the bandits,I was expecting the US awa to go help get him out. But no help came his way.. Now I believe the US has mission,it's totally outside this insecurity shit