Jeremy Fregene
The United States has resumed intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations over Nigeria’s North-East, focusing on militant activity in the Sambisa Forest, following recent airstrikes on ISIS-linked fighters in Sokoto State.
A Sahel-based terrorism tracker, Brant Philip, citing flight-tracking data showing a US aircraft operating over Borno State, reportedly disclosed that the aircraft involved is a Gulfstream V jet, commonly adapted for ISR missions.
Philip said the surveillance flights, which resumed after a one-day pause following the Sokoto strikes, are targeting the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), the ISIS affiliate active in Nigeria’s North-East and the Lake Chad Basin.
Open-source analysts noted that the ISR missions began on November 24, with the aircraft taking off from Ghana, a key logistics hub for US military operations in West Africa. The jet, reportedly linked to Tenax Aerospace, a US special mission aircraft provider, has flown over Nigeria almost daily since the operation commenced.
Sources familiar with the missions said the flights are intended to gather intelligence on militant groups and to assist in tracking an American pilot kidnapped in neighbouring Niger Republic.
The renewed surveillance comes weeks after Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, met with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington, amid heightened diplomatic tension following President Donald Trump’s threats of possible military intervention in Nigeria.
After the meeting, Hegseth said the US Department of Defence would work “aggressively” with Nigeria to end what he described as the persecution of Christians by jihadist terrorists.
Thursday night’s airstrikes in North-West Nigeria, reportedly targeting ISIS-linked militants, were described by President Trump as the “first fulfilment” of that commitment, with a warning that further strikes would follow.
Meanwhile, US Congressman Riley Moore said President Trump is focused on ending the killing of Christians in Nigeria. In a post on his verified X account, Moore said the airstrikes were aimed at preventing attacks on Christian communities.
He stressed that the operation was carried out in coordination with the Nigerian government. The US launched airstrikes on Christmas Day against terrorist enclaves in the Bauni Forest, Tangaza Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
Moore said Christians had been attacked by terrorists during Christmas celebrations in Nigeria over the past two years, adding that the strikes were intended as a deterrent.
“The President is totally focused on this,” Moore said, describing the operation as “a very good first step” toward addressing the killings.