West Africa | 100 US Troops Arrive in Nigeria for Counterterrorism Training
Oasis Media Collective | West Africa Wire | February 20, 2026
KEY FACTS
100 U.S. troops were deployed to Nigeria, focusing on counterterrorism training, intelligence sharing, and capacity building
Nigeria has emerged as one of the last stable pillars of Western counterterrorism operations in West Africa, following US and French military withdrawals from the region
The deployment comes as Nigeria faces a growing dual insurgency from Boko Haram and ISWAP, the latter having significantly expanded its territorial control
Roughly 100 US military personnel have deployed to Nigeria, on top of the 200 Washington had sent to the country last week.
The deployment will focus on joint counterterrorism training, intelligence sharing support, technical advisory functions, and capacity building for Nigerian armed forces. It comes amid widening American security engagement in West Africa, with Nigeria acting as a critical node. Along with the aforementioned 200 troop deployment, the US also launched airstrikes in the country in late December.
Despite an initial downturn in relations between the two countries toward the end of 2025—over disproven American claims of Christian persecution in Nigeria—Washington and Abuja have calmed tensions due to shared security concerns. The West Africa region, of which Nigeria is the most populous nation and most stable economy, has become fraught with insecurity amid an Islamist insurgency and military takeovers that have upended the regional status quo. With both the US and France having withdrawn from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, Nigeria is seen as one of the last standing and stable pillars of Western counterterror operations in West Africa.
As Abuja continues to struggle with its own rising insurgency from both Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province—the latter of which has significantly expanded its territorial control in northeastern Nigeria and the surrounding Lake Chad Basin throughout 2025—its military has increasingly come to rely on foreign support. With Russia becoming deeply entrenched in West Africa, the US is lending its support as a counterweight to Moscow’s military grip.
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