The United States has been carrying out intelligence-gathering flights over large parts of Nigeria since late November, signalling heightened security cooperation between both countries, according to flight tracking data and US officials cited by Reuters.
The exclusive report on Monday said the purpose of the surveillance missions could not be independently confirmed.
However, the flights follow threats by US President Donald Trump in November to intervene militarily in Nigeria over what he described as the government’s failure to halt violence against Christian communities.
Reuters noted that the surveillance operations also come months after a US pilot working for a missionary agency was kidnapped in neighbouring Niger.
Flight tracking data for December showed that the contractor-operated aircraft typically takes off from Ghana, flies over Nigeria, and returns to Accra.
The data identified the operator as Mississippi-based Tenax Aerospace, a company that provides special mission aircraft and works closely with the US military, according to its website.
The company did not respond to requests for comment.
The Africa team lead at the Critical Threats Project of the American Enterprise Institute, Liam Karr, who analysed the flight data, said the operation appeared to be running out of Accra, which he described as “a known hub for the U.S. military’s logistics network in Africa,” Reuters reports.
Karr said the flights suggested Washington was rebuilding its intelligence capacity in the region after Niger last year ordered US troops to leave a major desert air base and instead turned to Russia for security assistance.
“In recent weeks, we’ve seen a resumption of intelligence and surveillance flights in Nigeria,” Karr told Reuters.
A former US official said the aircraft was among several assets moved to Ghana by the Trump administration in November.
While it was unclear how many aircraft remained there, the official said the missions included tracking the kidnapped US pilot and gathering intelligence on militant groups operating in Nigeria, including Boko Haram and its splinter faction, Islamic State West Africa Province.
A current US official confirmed the aircraft had been flying over Nigeria but declined to give details, citing diplomatic sensitivity.
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