Pentagon Penetrates Nigeria Further Through Drone Deployment to Track Rebels with Origins in US Intelligence

21 March 2026

Radio France Internationale

The US military has multiple MQ-9 drones operating in Nigeria alongside 200 troops - in a non-combat role providing training and intelligence support to the military in its fight against Islamist militants across the north, US and Nigerian officials have confirmed.

A US 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 told Reuters news agency.

Major General Samaila Uba, director of defence information at Nigeria's Defence Headquarters, confirmed that the US was operating assets from Bauchi airfield in the northeast.

"This support builds on the newly established US-Nigeria intelligence fusion cell, which continues to deliver actionable intelligence to our field commanders," he told Reuters. "Our US partners remain in a strictly non-combat role, enabling operations led by Nigerian authorities."

Uba said the timeline for the United States' 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.

But the two officials stressed the troops were not integrated within Nigerian units on the frontline and the drones are not carrying out airstrikes.

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

Long partnership

Washington has had a long partnership with Nigeria's military, providing training and selling weapons.

The US military previously had a $100 million drone base in neighbouring Niger with about 1,000 troops monitoring militants across the Sahel region. It 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.

The US carried out airstrikes in the northwest on Christmas Day, saying it was aimed at stopping the targeting of Christians in the region.

Nigeria's government and experts on the conflict have rejected claims of a concerted anti-Christian ⁠campaign, saying it oversimplifies a complex crisis.

US strikes on Nigeria set 'deeply troubling precedent' for African governance

Suicide bombers launched an assault on the northeastern Nigerian garrison town of Maiduguri on 16 March, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 100 others.

It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack.

Uba said it was still being investigated, ⁠adding that both Boko Haram militants and ISWAP, an Islamic State-allied faction, remain a persistent threat, adapting their tactics over time.

(with Reuters)