Is It True That US Soldiers Are In Nigeria? Fresh Development Emerges
- Nigeria and the US enhance security collaboration through capacity building and intelligence sharing
- US Africa Command confirms a small team deployed to assist Nigeria's security efforts
- Nigerians react to US military presence amid ongoing terrorism concerns and local security challenges
The Defence Headquarters has said that the security partnership between Nigeria and the United States was based on capacity building, strategic dialogue, professional military education, logistic support and intelligence sharing with the objective of addressing the security concerns in the country, including terrorism.
This came after several reports claimed that the United States troops had been deployed to the West African country.
Source: Twitter
On Tuesday, February 3, General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, the head of US Africa Command, said he had been able to meet President Bola Tinubu, and they agreed to work with Nigeria. He added that one of the agreements was that a small US team would bring unique capabilities from the United States to complement Nigeria's efforts on security.
It was later reported that Gen. Christopher Musa (retd), the Nigerian Minister of Defence, confirmed the arrival of the US team in Nigeria.
Reacting to the report on Thursday, February 5, Major General Samaila Uba, the Director of Defence Information, explained that Nigeria's sovereignty is protected in all the engagements conducted with the United States and that they were all under the existing bilateral frameworks.
Nigerians react to Nigeria-US military cooperation
This was contained in a statement shared by the Defence Headquarters, which has started generating reactions from Nigerians. Below are some of their reactions:
Felix Adejimi commended the military:
"No thinking person should expect terrorism financiers to be pleased with the presence U.S Army team in Nigeria. Nigeria needs the practical help of a military alliance to defeat terrorists who have an international network."
Source: Twitter
Gondo Andy urged the military to address recent killings:
"This should be the least of our issues at the moment, over 162 innocent citizens were massacred by terrorists in one locality in Nigeria and the best you can do is to respond to issues that seem secondary at the moment. Nigeria is under siege."
Dapoplenty speaks on insecurity in the country:
"What other intelligence are you looking for when prior notice to kidnap is given to the defence, and yet someone somewhere orders troops to vacate for terrorists to have a free day to kidnap and maim?"
Kome Nice
"Are there no troops in Kwara? How can bandits operate for 17hours without any quick response? 17 hours I can drive from Onitsha to Taraba state. But soldiers from the 22 Armoured Brigade cannot be deployed. We all know what we're doing! U wey dey post one day u go pull uniform."
See the full statement from the Defence Authority on X here:
Gunmen in military uniform invade Kwara community
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that tragedy struck on Monday night in Ilesha Baruba, Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State, as suspected terrorists dressed in military camouflage stormed the community, killing six people in a brazen attack that has sent shockwaves across the area.
Legit.ng gathered from multiple community sources that the attack occurred around 9:00 pm at the main garage of the town, near the residence of a prominent elder, Alhaji Jubril.
Source: Legit.ng
