The United States is preparing to withdraw about 200 military personnel deployed to Nigeria earlier this year to support the country’s fight against Islamist militants, according to a report by The New York Times.
The planned drawdown, which is expected to be completed by the end of September, follows months of increased US-Nigeria military cooperation, particularly in intelligence gathering, counterterrorism training and operations targeting senior leaders of Islamic State-linked groups in the Lake Chad Basin.
According to the report, US and Nigerian officials described the deployment as relatively small in size but significant in its impact, saying the American military presence had produced results beyond what would ordinarily be expected from such a limited contingent.
Although the bulk of the American personnel are expected to leave Nigeria, small teams of military trainers and intelligence analysts are expected to remain in the country to sustain the security partnership between Washington and Abuja.
The continued presence of the teams is expected to focus largely on intelligence cooperation and capacity building, rather than a large-scale deployment of US combat personnel.
US officials reportedly regard the Nigerian deployment as a potential model for future American military engagements in Africa, particularly operations that rely on a limited number of personnel working closely with local forces rather than maintaining large, permanent troop deployments.
The development comes after a major US-supported counterterrorism operation in May that resulted in the death of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, described by American officials as the second-in-command of the Islamic State in the Lake Chad Basin.
Last month, Dagvin Anderson, commander of the US Africa Command, disclosed that Washington had already withdrawn a significant number of its troops from Nigeria following the operation.
Anderson said the May strike had dealt a major blow to the leadership structure of the Islamic State in Nigeria and had consequences for the group’s wider operations.
He also said Nigerian security forces had remained “very active” following the operation, particularly in efforts to prevent terrorist groups from rebuilding their operational and financial capacity.
According to the AFRICOM commander, Nigerian forces were working to eliminate the terrorists’ ability to operate independently and sustain themselves through their own networks and resources.
Despite the troop reduction, Anderson stressed that the United States would maintain its intelligence-sharing partnership with Nigeria, signalling that Washington’s broader security cooperation with Abuja would continue even after the withdrawal of most of the American personnel.
The planned drawdown therefore appears to represent a shift in the nature of US military involvement in Nigeria rather than an end to bilateral counterterrorism cooperation.
The latest development comes weeks after Nigeria and the United States held the second round of discussions in Washington under a joint working group established to address the protection of Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
The working group was created against the backdrop of growing tensions over allegations of attacks on Christian communities and claims of religious persecution in parts of Nigeria.
The issue gained additional international attention after Donald Trump, US President designated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” over alleged violations of religious freedom, including allegations concerning the killing and persecution of Christians.
The Nigerian government has consistently rejected claims that the country’s security crisis should be characterised as a campaign of Christian genocide, maintaining that terrorist attacks and other forms of insecurity affect Nigerians across religious and ethnic lines.
Despite the differences in the framing of the crisis, Washington and Abuja have continued to strengthen cooperation in intelligence sharing, counterterrorism and security assistance.
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