…Describes Nigeria as capable partners with strong military
By Eshioromeh Sebastian
The United States has withdrawn most of its military personnel deployed to Nigeria for a joint counterterrorism operation in the Lake Chad Basin, the Commander of US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, has said.
Anderson, who disclosed this during a digital press briefing on Thursday on the outcome of the African Chiefs of Defence Conference 2026, explained that the withdrawal followed the completion of the specific mission for which the troops were deployed.
He said the operation not only helped countries in the region but also disrupted the ISIS network globally.
“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,” Anderson said.
He, however, said Washington remained committed to supporting Nigeria through intelligence collaboration and other forms of security cooperation requested by the Nigerian government.
“And so — and then we have withdrawn much of our forces that were just there for that operation, but are continuing the partnership that Nigeria has asked for to help continue with the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,” he added.
Anderson described Nigeria as a capable partner with a strong military.
“I think the partnership that we’ve shown recently with Nigeria, where Nigeria’s a very capable and large country — it’s got a strong economy; it’s got a large, educated population; it’s got a very capable military,” he said.
He said US intelligence support, combined with Nigerian military efforts, led to a successful operation against the second-in-command of the ISIS global network.
“But there are things that we have learned in the counterterrorist fight over several years that we were able to assist and integrate with them to help them with their intelligence and help with the intelligence sharing that eventually led to a cooperative effort to where we were able to bring some unique capabilities that the U.S. brings and be able to prosecute together the number two leader within the ISIS or Daesh organization who is responsible for much of their global operations, their global media, and their recruiting,” he said.
Anderson stressed that the operation demonstrated the value of intelligence cooperation rather than long-term foreign military deployments.
“So I think as we go forward, that is an example of how we’re looking at engaging with partners to help them be more effective by only bringing unique U.S. capabilities that allow the partner to be effective in these fights,” he said.
He also advocated stronger intelligence sharing among African countries to combat terrorism, illicit trafficking and other transnational crimes.
He said effective communication and established partnerships recently contributed to the interception of a record 31-ton cocaine shipment originating from South America and transiting along the West African coast.
“I was able to coordinate through our interagency in the United States, through AFRICOM, and then notify some of the partners. And eventually it was a Spanish ship that interdicted the ship that had 31 tons of cocaine on it, and it turns out is the largest interdiction of drugs at sea that we’ve ever seen,” Anderson said.
The United States deployed about 200 military personnel to Nigeria in February 2026 to support intelligence, surveillance and counterterrorism operations in the Lake Chad Basin.
The deployment followed the redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern by US President Donald Trump, who had vowed to intensify American support against terrorist groups operating in the country.
The partnership culminated in May 2026 when a joint US-Nigerian operation killed Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, the second-in-command of ISIS, at his hideout in Borno State.
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