the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), led by its Commander, General Dagvin Anderson, met with President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja.

The visit marks a significant deepening of military ties following the controversial but strategic U.S. airstrikes against terrorist positions in Nigeria on Christmas Day 2025.

Highlights of the Meeting​The closed-door session included Nigeria’s top security hierarchy and focused on a new phase of “enhanced cooperation

​U.S. “Boots on the Ground”: The visit follows the official confirmation on February 3 that a “small team” of U.S. special forces has been deployed to Nigeria. General Anderson noted this team brings “unique capabilities” to augment Nigeria’s domestic counter-terrorism efforts.

The “Archibald Process”: General Anderson referenced a framework (initially discussed in Rome) that paved the way for this direct military collaboration, including the joint planning of aerial strikes against groups like ISWAP and the Lakurawa insurgents.

Counter-Terrorism & Intelligence: Discussions centered on intelligence fusion, aerial surveillance, and dismantling transnational terror-financing networks that have been destabilizing the Northwest and Sahel regions.

Regional Leadership: The U.S. reaffirmed its support for Nigeria’s leadership within ECOWAS, particularly in the face of shifting alliances in the Sahel (Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso).

New Reality”​This visit signals a departure from previous years of “arm’s length” assistance. With U.S. troops now officially on Nigerian soil and a history of recent joint kinetic operations (airstrikes), the partnership has moved from purely technical support to active operational collaboration

While the Nigerian government has emphasized that these moves preserve national sovereignty, the presence of the U.S. “small team” remains a sensitive topic in domestic political circles