The United States has deployed multiple MQ-9 drones and approximately 200 troops to Nigeria to assist in the fight against Islamist militants, according to US and Nigerian officials who spoke to Reuters.
US officials stated that the troops are not embedded with Nigerian frontline units, and the drones are strictly focused on intelligence gathering, not conducting airstrikes.
The US military previously operated a $100 million drone base in neighboring Niger Republic, with around 1,000 troops tracking militant activity across the Sahel. That facility was shut down in 2024 after Niger’s military government ordered US forces to leave.
A US defense official said the drones were deployed alongside troops at Nigeria’s request, primarily to bolster intelligence-gathering efforts.
“We see this as a shared security threat,” the official told Reuters.
Major General Samaila Uba, Director of Defence Information at Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters, confirmed that US assets are being operated from the 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.”
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
