200 US Troops to be Deployed to Nigeria to Train the Military

Nigeria’s confirmation that roughly 200 U.S. troops will deploy in a non-combat role underscores a calibrated expansion of bilateral security ties, even as Washington intensifies rhetoric and limited strikes against Islamist targets.

Major General Samaila Uba, spokesperson for Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters, told Reuters on Wednesday that the U.S. personnel would focus on technical training and advisory support at several locations.

These personnel do not serve in a combat capacity and will not assume a direct operational role. Nigerian forces retain full command authority, make all operational decisions and will lead all missions on Nigerian sovereign territory.

Army Spokesperson Maj. Gen. Samaila Uba

Last week, the U.S. military confirmed it had sent a small team to Nigeria, marking Washington’s first public acknowledgment of personnel on the ground since Christmas Day strikes.

A U.S. official said Tuesday that the Pentagon planned to deploy about 200 troops in the coming weeks to train Nigerian forces fighting Islamist militants.

Uba declined to specify an arrival date but said the deployment falls under ongoing cooperation through the U.S.-Nigeria Joint Working Group.

Training Mission, Not Combat

The deployment follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s order weeks ago for strikes against what he described as Islamic State targets. In a Jan. 9 interview with The New York Times, Trump said he hoped recent attacks on the Islamic State would be a one-time strike but warned, “If they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike.”

Nigeria has rejected the framing of the airstrikes as a response to a “Christian genocide”, when they said the operations were counterterrorism actions and not based on religion. Abuja maintains that its security forces target armed groups that attack both Christians and Muslims.

Religious Pressure And Legislation

Political pressure in Washington has grown alongside the military cooperation. On Tuesday, Republican lawmakers introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026. The bill would require the Secretary of State to submit a report to Congress on U.S. efforts to address what sponsors described as “ongoing religious persecution and mass atrocities against Christians in Nigeria.”

The legislation is sponsored by Riley Moore, who led a congressional delegation to Nigeria in December and has criticized the government’s response to violence affecting Christian communities.

Overlapping Security Crises

Nigeria’s internal security landscape remains complex. The country faces a long-running Islamist insurgency in the northeast, armed kidnapping gangs in the northwest, and farmer-herder clashes in the central region.

Data from 2023 to 2025 show more than two bandit attacks per day, with 6,107 people killed over that period. Abductions remain widespread - 4,243 in 2023, 1,461 in early 2024, and 857 in early 2025.

Bandits operate from forests and mountainous terrain, conducting ransom raids, illegal mining, and extortion.

The 200-strong U.S. deployment, limited to training and advisory tasks, therefore intersects with multiple active theaters of violence rather than a single front.

By retaining full operational control, Abuja seeks to balance external support with sovereign command, even as scrutiny from Washington intensifies.