- Extols partnership with Nigeria
The Commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), Air Force General Dagvin Anderson, has given insight into the deployment of American forces in Nigeria, saying they are bringing “some unique capabilities from the United States in order to augment what Nigeria has been doing for several years.”
General Anderson, the seventh commander of U.S. AFRICOM who assumed duty since August 2025, spoke to journalists from across Africa, said that since the deployment, “we’ve had some really good, positive movement there.”
Specifically, he said that the U.S. is bringing Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) infuses integrated, organized, and continuous process of acquiring, processing, and providing timely, actionable, and accurate information into the Nigerian military operations against terrorists and other non-state actors. This enables superior situational awareness across land, sea, air, space, and cyber domains, allowing for effective decision-making, threat detection, and response.
Extolling the partnership with Nigeria, Anderson noted: “I was able to go to the Aqaba Process in Rome last – late last year that was hosted by the prime minister of Italy and the king of Jordan, focused specifically on the terrorist threat in West Africa. And at that meeting, I was able to meet President Tinubu. We were able to share some thoughts and agree that we needed to work together on a way forward in the region.
“That has led to increased collaboration between our nations, to include a small U.S. team that brings some unique capabilities from the United States in order to augment what Nigeria has been doing for several years. And I think we’ve had some really good, positive movement there. My deputy was just there with a high-level delegation from State Department led by Allison Hooker, in order to look at how we can continue to move forward together.”
General Anderson added: “Our partnership with Nigeria is a great example of a very willing and capable partner who requested the unique capabilities that only the U.S. can bring – with some of the ISR, some of the intelligence fusion – to bring that to bear together.
“And when we do that, we are much more effective to counter these threats. And being able to counter these threats together, I think, has been – is critical to our future. And so while there are many nations that are concerned with this, when we can find a capable, willing partner to work with and we can fuse the unique capabilities that U.S. brings, we have seen success in addressing these threats.”
