The United States has been conducting intelligence-gathering flights over large parts of Nigeria since late November, flight tracking data and current and former U.S. officials show, signalling heightened security cooperation between the two countries, according to Reuters.
The exclusive report on Monday said the purpose of the surveillance missions could not be immediately and independently confirmed.
The operations come weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump warned in November that Washington could intervene militarily in Nigeria over what he described as the government’s failure to halt violence against Christian communities.
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Trump posted on social media in November.
“I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians!”
Flight tracking data for December shows that the contractor-operated aircraft typically departs from Ghana, flies over Nigerian airspace, and returns to Accra, Ghana’s capital.
The aircraft is operated by Mississippi-based Tenax Aerospace, a company that provides special mission aircraft and works closely with the U.S. military, according to its website. However, the report says the company did not respond to a request for comment.
Liam Karr, Africa team lead at the American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project, who analysed the flight data, said the operation appeared to be run out of Accra, a known hub for U.S. military logistics in Africa.
Karr said the renewed flights suggest Washington is rebuilding intelligence capacity in the region after Niger ordered U.S. forces to leave a major air base last year and shifted its security partnership towards Russia.
“In recent weeks we’ve seen a resumption of intelligence and surveillance flights in Nigeria,” Karr said.
A former U.S. official said the aircraft was among several assets moved to Ghana in November and that the missions included efforts to track the kidnapped U.S. pilot and gather intelligence on militant groups operating in Nigeria, including Boko Haram and its splinter faction, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
A current U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed the aircraft had been flying over Nigeria but declined to provide further details, citing diplomatic sensitivity. Another administration official said the United States continued to work with Nigeria to address religious violence and the spread of terrorism.
In a statement, the Pentagon said it had held productive meetings with Nigerian authorities following Trump’s remarks but declined to comment on intelligence operations.
Nigeria’s military spokesperson and Ghana’s deputy defence minister did not respond to requests for comment, according to Reuters.
