By Our Reporter
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has dismissed reports suggesting that the United States has withdrawn its troops from Nigeria, clarifying that only personnel deployed for a specific counterterrorism operation in the Lake Chad Basin have returned after successfully completing their mission.
The military said the 200 US personnel deployed for joint intelligence and technical support operations against the Islamic State (ISIS) and other terrorist groups were different from the American military advisers who remain in Nigeria as part of ongoing bilateral security cooperation.
Director of Defence Information, Major General Samaila Uba, made the clarification in a statement on Friday, stressing that the Nigeria-United States security partnership remains intact and continues to focus on intelligence sharing and counterterrorism operations.
“The Commander was primarily talking about the additional forces that came to execute the mission in the Lake Chad Basin. Initial US personnel are still in Nigeria.
“The partnership between Nigeria and the US is unchanged with key information sharing ongoing. As we saw in May, there are times that require additional forces to execute specific missions. Those forces are intended for short periods of time only,” Uba said.
He added that both countries would continue to work together to confront terrorism and other shared security threats.
“Nigeria and the US continue to work closely together to disrupt and eliminate shared threats, and that remains unchanged. Going forward, where the need arises for peculiar competencies, personnel and resources, they will be provided,” he stated.
The clarification followed reports by a foreign news agency that the United States had withdrawn most of its military personnel from Nigeria after the successful completion of a joint counterterrorism mission in the Lake Chad Basin.
The report quoted the Commander of the US Air Forces in Africa, General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, as announcing the development during a virtual briefing on the outcome of the African Chiefs of Defence Conference 2026.
According to the report, Anderson explained that the deployment was tied to a specific operation against ISIS in the Lake Chad region and that the withdrawal followed the successful completion of the mission.
He, however, emphasized that intelligence sharing and broader security cooperation with Nigeria would continue.
“And so that operation in the Lake Chad Basin of Nigeria not only helped the countries in that immediate region; it also helps countries globally as that disrupts the ISIS network.
“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,” Anderson said.
The US Air Force commander described Nigeria as a critical regional partner with a capable military, noting that intelligence collaboration between both countries contributed to the operation that eliminated the second-highest-ranking leader in the global ISIS network.
He said the joint effort combined Nigeria’s operational capabilities with unique intelligence assets provided by the United States, leading to significant gains in the fight against terrorism.
The Defence Headquarters maintained that the conclusion of the temporary deployment should not be interpreted as a withdrawal of US military cooperation, insisting that security collaboration between both countries remains active and will continue wherever operational requirements demand.
