In a development signalling a major shift in West Africa’s rapidly evolving security landscape, the United States military has begun conducting sustained, covert Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations over Nigerian territory, launching missions from neighbouring Ghana and—if ongoing negotiations succeed—potentially expanding further into Nigeria through the Kainji Air Base in Niger State. This unfolding partnership—still unofficial, still politically sensitive, and still enveloped in the language of “counter-terrorism cooperation”—reveals how deeply foreign military footprints are now shaping the region’s fight against insurgency.
The new arrangement, according to multiple defence insiders, independent analysts, and aviation-tracking specialists, represents one of Washington’s most significant military escalations in West Africa since the establishment of Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, the Pentagon’s largest and most important base on the continent. Despite the absence of any formal joint declaration from Abuja and Washington, American intelligence assets have already been active in Nigerian airspace for nearly two weeks, targeting Islamic State–aligned cells and tracking the movements of two major jihadist factions: the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and IS-Sahel.
Although U.S. operations in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin are not entirely new, the intensity and frequency of these recent missions signal something much bigger—something negotiated at levels far above public view.
A Quiet Deal With Extraordinary Implications
According to a private source closely familiar with the classified military arrangements between Nigeria and the United States, Nigeria has, in principle, granted the U.S. permission to carry out unmanned airstrikes against terrorist targets within its borders. This means the United States may, for the first time, directly launch precision strikes inside Nigerian territory—but exclusively via Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), not manned fighter jets or strategic bombers.
The limitation to UAVs is intentional. It offers political deniability, avoids headlines about “American boots on Nigerian soil,” and maintains Nigeria’s diplomatic posture, at least on the surface, that it retains military autonomy. But beneath that veneer, this partnership dramatically deepens American involvement in Nigerian counter-terrorism operations.
The U.S. role will extend far beyond occasional drone flights. American units will fill what multiple defence experts describe as “critical, dangerous, and widening ISR gaps” in Nigeria’s battlefield intelligence. For years, the Nigerian military has struggled to accurately map, track, and predict the movements of armed groups scattered across forests, borderlands, rural enclaves, and ungoverned spaces. These blind spots have proven deadly, allowing insurgent factions to regenerate after military pushes and re-establish command structures in remote havens.
U.S. ISR capabilities—through high-altitude manned aircraft, long-endurance drones, signals-intelligence platforms, and satellite integration—will fundamentally alter that equation.
Ghana Emerges as the Unlikely Forward Operating Hub
In a revelation that surprised even seasoned observers of U.S. African operations, military aviation trackers noticed an unusual pattern in recent weeks: a surge of U.S. Air Force cargo flights moving between Djibouti and Ghana.
These aircraft—heavy, long-range cargo planes such as the C-17 Globemaster III—arrived fully loaded from Camp Lemonnier, the headquarters of U.S. Africa Command’s (AFRICOM) operations. Yet, when they returned to Djibouti, they were empty. This detail was not lost on analysts. The pattern strongly suggested that large volumes of U.S. military hardware were being transported into Ghana but not brought back.
Independent defence analyst Brant Philip (@BrantPhilip_) was the first to publicly flag these unusual flight movements. His open-source monitoring pointed to a major, undisclosed build-up of equipment—almost certainly UAV systems, support gear, and ISR platforms—now stationed in Ghana.
Ghana, not Nigeria, is currently hosting these American assets.
The Pentagon has long maintained deep ties with Accra, and Ghana’s political stability makes it the preferred operational hub in West Africa. From Ghana, the U.S. has direct access to Nigerian airspace without the bureaucratic and political complications that often accompany operating directly from Nigerian soil.
This arrangement gives Washington strategic flexibility while giving Abuja plausible deniability.
Daily ISR Flights Over Nigeria
For nearly two weeks, the United States has flown daily ISR missions directly over Nigerian territory. Flight logs and satellite-tracked paths—although not publicly acknowledged by either the Pentagon or Abuja—reveal concentrated U.S. surveillance in areas controlled or contested by ISWAP in the northeast and IS-Sahel in the northwest.
Sources confirm that:
• The U.S. is mapping jihadist strongholds
• Tracking weapons shipments
• Monitoring training camps
• Intercepting communication networks
• Identifying new cross-border movement routes
• Pinpointing locations for possible future UAV strikes
These missions are continuous, highly coordinated, and involve both manned and unmanned aircraft.
Possible Expansion Into Nigeria Through Kainji Air Base
Although current operations originate from Ghana, negotiations are underway for potential deployment at Nigeria’s Kainji Air Base in Niger State. Kainji has long served as a strategic air asset for Nigeria, hosting fighter jets and forming one of the key bases in anti-terrorism air missions.
If the U.S. secures the use of Kainji—still officially unconfirmed—it would mark a historic development. For the first time, America could operate UAV assets from Nigerian soil, drastically reducing flight time, increasing surveillance accuracy, and allowing for faster response in strike missions.
This would transform the tactical map of Nigeria’s counter-terrorism war.
Why Ghana, Why Now?
Analysts believe three major developments triggered the U.S. escalation:
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The collapse of Western influence in the Sahel:
Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso expelled French and Western forces, turning sharply toward Russia. As the Sahel becomes inaccessible to Western militaries, the U.S. is repositioning southward. -
The rise of IS-linked insurgencies in northern Nigeria:
ISWAP and IS-Sahel have evolved into highly adaptable factions, blending local grievances with global jihadist strategies. -
The humanitarian and geopolitical crisis looming in West Africa:
The U.S. fears that without intervention, northern Nigeria could collapse into a wide theatre of extremist control, destabilizing Chad, Cameroon, Benin, and the Gulf of Guinea.
Ghana offers the stability, access, and diplomatic discretion the U.S. needs to reposition.
Nigeria’s Silence and Strategic Ambivalence
Interestingly, neither the Nigerian government nor the U.S. State Department has issued formal statements acknowledging these operations. Abuja’s silence is strategic. Publicly admitting U.S. drone activity inside Nigeria would trigger domestic political backlash—particularly among northern political elites, civil society leaders, and anti-Western groups already suspicious of foreign military influence.
But privately, Nigerian defence and intelligence operatives welcome American involvement. The Nigerian military has struggled for years with insufficient ISR capacity, outdated equipment, limited satellite data, and internal corruption scandals that have compromised battlefield effectiveness.
U.S. surveillance is, in effect, doing the work Nigeria cannot do on its own.
A New Chapter in Nigeria-U.S. Military Relations
If the agreement continues to evolve, Nigeria could soon become one of the largest U.S. ISR theatres in Africa, rivaling Somalia and the Sahel corridor. For Washington, Nigeria—Africa’s most populous nation and largest economy—is too strategically important to lose to extremist expansion.
For Nigeria, cooperating with the U.S. could be the difference between containing extremist groups or watching them metastasize into full-scale territorial powers like ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
Covert Today, Transformational Tomorrow
For now, these operations remain largely invisible to the public—shrouded in diplomatic ambiguity, tactical secrecy, and political sensitivity. But the consequences are profound. A foreign military power is now conducting daily surveillance inside Nigeria, mapping enemy positions, tracking insurgent movements, and preparing potential future strikes.
Whether this marks the beginning of a long-term strategic partnership or the first phase of deeper foreign involvement in Nigeria’s internal conflicts remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: West Africa’s security dynamics have entered a new and unpredictable era.
Just tell me.