President Bola Tinubu hosted senior United States military leaders at the State House in Abuja on Sunday, as Washington expands its security presence in Nigeria.
The high-level meeting brought together General Dagvin R. Anderson, Commander of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), and Keith Heffern, Charge d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria. President Tinubu was joined by National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and Nigeria’s top military brass.
According to a statement from Dada Olusegun, Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, the discussions took place against the backdrop of evolving U.S.-Nigeria military cooperation.
The visit follows the February 3 deployment of a small contingent of American troops to Nigeria—the first official U.S. boots on the ground since December 2025, when U.S. forces conducted airstrikes against terrorist positions on Christmas Day.
Those strikes, ordered by President Donald Trump and aimed at what he termed “Islamic State targets,” signaled a potential escalation in U.S. involvement in Nigeria’s security challenges. Washington had been conducting surveillance flights over Nigerian territory from Ghana since at least November 2025, gathering intelligence ahead of the December operations.
General Anderson described the deployment as part of broader efforts to counter rising terrorist activity across West Africa.
“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,” Anderson said, though he declined to reveal the team’s size or exact mission parameters beyond supporting Nigeria’s counterterrorism operations.
The meeting underscores growing security ties between Abuja and Washington as both nations confront shared threats in the region.
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