 "US surveillance planes fly over Nigeria after Trump's threats to intervene militarily")
The US has stepped up intelligence-gathering flights across wide areas of Nigeria since late November, according to flight tracking data and current and former US officials, underscoring closer security cooperation between the two countries. The purpose of the flights could not be determined, reported Reuters.
The aerial activity follows threats made in November by US President Donald Trump to intervene militarily in Nigeria over what he described as the country’s failure to stop violence against Christian communities. The flights are also taking place only months after a US pilot working for a missionary agency was kidnapped in neighbouring Niger.
Tracking data for December shows the contractor-operated surveillance aircraft usually departs from Ghana, flies over Nigeria, and then returns to Accra, the Ghanaian capital. The operator is Mississippi-based Tenax Aerospace, which provides special mission aircraft and works closely with the US military, according to the company’s website. Tenax Aerospace did not respond to a request for comment.
Liam Karr, Africa Team Lead for the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute, analysed the flight data and said the operation appeared to be run from an airport in Accra, a known hub for the US military’s logistics network in Africa. He said the activity suggested the US was beginning to rebuild its regional capacity after Niger last year ordered US troops to leave a newly built desert airbase and turned instead to Russia for security assistance.
“In recent weeks we’ve seen a resumption of intelligence and surveillance flights in Nigeria,” Karr said in an interview.
A former US official said the aircraft was one of several assets the Trump administration moved to Ghana in November. While the number of aircraft remaining there is unclear, the former official said the missions include efforts to locate the kidnapped US pilot and collect intelligence on militant groups operating in Nigeria, including Boko Haram and its splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province.
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View AllA current US official confirmed the aircraft has been flying over Nigeria but declined to provide further details because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue. Another administration official said Washington continued to work with Nigeria to “address religious violence, anti-Christian attacks, and the destabilising spread of terrorism”. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity.
In a statement, the Pentagon said the US government had held productive meetings with Nigeria following Trump’s comments but declined to discuss intelligence matters. Nigeria’s military spokesperson and Ghana’s deputy defence minister did not respond to requests for comment.
Nigeria’s government has said armed groups target both Muslims and Christians, arguing that US claims of Christian persecution do not reflect the complexity of the security situation and overlook efforts to protect religious freedom. However, it has agreed to work with the US to strengthen its forces against militant groups. Nigeria’s population is divided mainly between Muslims in the north and Christians in the south.
A Nigerian security source said the US agreed during a November 20 meeting between Nigerian National Security Advisor Nuhu Ribadu and US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to deploy air assets for intelligence gathering. A spokesperson for the Nigerian military did not respond to requests for comment.
Flight tracking data showed the Tenax Aerospace aircraft at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, on November 7. The base houses the headquarters of the United States Special Operations Command. The aircraft flew to Ghana on November 24, days after the high-level security meeting, and has since flown over Nigeria almost daily. The aircraft is a Gulfstream V, a long-range business jet often modified for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
Security emergency in Nigeria
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu declared a security emergency last month and ordered the army and police to begin mass recruitment as armed violence worsened across the country. The decision followed attacks in several states in which civilians were killed or kidnapped, as well as the mass abduction of more than 300 schoolchildren in northern Nigeria.
At the same time, the US has taken punitive steps over what it sees as Nigeria’s failure to protect Christians. In October, Trump added Nigeria back to a list of countries that the US says have violated religious freedom. This week, Nigeria was also added to the US travel ban list, facing partial restrictions and entry limitations.
Trump has asked the Defence Department to prepare for possible “fast” military action if Nigeria does not curb the killing of Christians. The US and Nigeria have also set up a joint task force to address security concerns, according to Republican US Representative Riley Moore, who recently travelled to the country.
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