Flights from Ghana highlight expanding US-Nigeria security ties as Washington monitors militant violence and pressures Abuja over religious freedom.
United States has quietly expanded aerial surveillance operations over Nigeria, signaling a deeper security engagement with Africa’s most populous nation amid mounting concerns over militant violence and religious freedom.
Since late November 2025, U.S.-linked aircraft have conducted intelligence-gathering flights across wide swaths of Nigerian airspace, according to flight-tracking data and confirmations from current and former American officials. The missions underscore Washington’s growing focus on Nigeria’s deteriorating security landscape and its strategic importance in West Africa.
U.S. official acknowledged the flights but declined to provide details, citing diplomatic sensitivities. Another administration official said the United States is working closely with Abuja to counter terrorism and address what Washington describes as rising attacks on Christian communities.
The surveillance activity was first confirmed through a Reuters investigation, marking the first public verification by a major international news organization of U.S. aerial intelligence missions over Nigeria. The precise objectives of the flights remain classified, but their timing coincides with heightened diplomatic friction between the two countries.
President Donald Trump has warned that the United States could consider military options if Nigeria fails to curb violence targeting Christian populations. The Pentagon said it has held “productive meetings” with Nigerian officials following those remarks, while declining to comment on intelligence operations.
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Flight records show the aircraft typically depart from Accra, Ghana, traverse Nigerian airspace, and return to Ghana. The planes are operated by Tenax Aerospace, a Mississippi-based contractor known for providing specialized surveillance aircraft in support of U.S. military missions.
Security analysts say Accra has become a key logistical hub for American operations in the region, particularly after Niger expelled U.S. troops last year and pivoted toward closer security cooperation with Russia. Several U.S. assets, including surveillance aircraft, were repositioned to Ghana under the Trump administration, according to a former U.S. official.
The missions are believed to support efforts to track militant groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province, as well as to assist in locating a U.S. pilot kidnapped earlier this year in neighboring Niger.
Nigeria’s government has rejected claims of systematic religious persecution, arguing that armed groups target both Muslims and Christians and that the violence reflects a broader insurgency and criminal crisis. Still, Abuja has agreed to deepen security cooperation with Washington.
The surveillance flights come as Nigeria faces one of its gravest security challenges in years. President Bola Tinubu recently declared a security emergency, ordering mass recruitment into the military and police after waves of deadly attacks and mass kidnappings, including the abduction of hundreds of schoolchildren in the north.
In recent months, the Trump administration has placed Nigeria back on a U.S. religious freedom watchlist and imposed partial travel restrictions, further raising the diplomatic stakes between the two partners.
