US Withdraws Most Troops from Nigeria, Says Intelligence Partnership Will Continue

The United States has withdrawn most of the troops it deployed to Nigeria for a joint counterterrorism mission in the Lake Chad Basin, but says its security partnership with Nigeria will continue through intelligence sharing and other forms of cooperation.

The development was disclosed by the Commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, during a digital press briefing on the African Chiefs of Defence Conference 2026. According to reports, Anderson said the specific operation that brought the U.S. personnel to Nigeria had ended, leading to the withdrawal of much of the deployed force.

However, he clarified that Washington was not ending its security cooperation with Abuja. He said the United States would continue to support Nigeria with intelligence and technical assistance requested by the Nigerian government, especially in the fight against ISIS/Daesh and other terrorist networks operating around the Lake Chad region.

The U.S. deployment had drawn public attention earlier in the year after Nigerian military authorities confirmed that about 200 American troops were expected in the country for training and advisory support, not combat operations. At the time, Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters said Nigerian forces would retain command authority over all operations on Nigerian territory.

Anderson described Nigeria as a capable military partner and said recent cooperation between both countries had produced results against terrorist networks. He also argued that the future of such partnerships should rely more on intelligence sharing and specialised support than on long-term foreign troop presence.

The pullback comes amid continuing insecurity in parts of northern Nigeria, where troops are battling Boko Haram, ISWAP and armed criminal groups. The Lake Chad Basin remains one of the most difficult security theatres in West Africa because insurgent groups operate across borders linking Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

The U.S. commander also called for stronger intelligence cooperation among African countries, saying terrorism, drug trafficking and other transnational crimes cannot be effectively tackled by one country alone.

Newspot Nigeria reports that the latest development should not be read as a total break in U.S.-Nigeria security relations. Rather, it signals a shift from direct troop deployment for a specific mission to continued intelligence and technical cooperation between both countries.