A security and jihadi expert specialising in the Sahel region, Brant Philip, has claimed that the United States has begun conducting intelligence operations inside Nigeria under a security arrangement with the Nigerian government aimed at curbing escalating terrorism in the country.
In a series of posts on Saturday and Sunday, Philip said a manned United States Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft carried out a mission over Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) territory in southwestern Lake Chad, Borno State. He added that the aircraft took off from Accra, Ghana, before entering Nigerian airspace.
“Confirming my earlier reports, a manned US ISR aircraft was conducting reconnaissance earlier today over ISWAP territory in Borno State. It originally took off from Accra, Ghana and is currently on its way back,” he wrote on X.
Philip previously alleged on Thursday that reconnaissance missions were already being carried out over western Nigeria without any public announcement by the Nigerian government, suggesting that a security agreement may have been signed privately.
According to him, a source familiar with the military arrangement revealed that the US would be permitted to conduct unmanned airstrikes against terrorist targets inside Nigeria, though the operations would be limited to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), not fighter jets or bombers.
He added that the United States would help plug intelligence gaps for the Nigerian military using both manned and unmanned aircraft and might possibly use the Kainji Air Base in Niger State as an operational launch point—although that detail remains unconfirmed.
On Sunday afternoon, the analyst reported that US surveillance flights had entered Nigeria for a third consecutive day.
“The US Air Force ISR aircraft returned for the third day in a row to spy over ISWAP’s Mantiqah Krinwa in Borno State. It took off from Accra, as usual,” he said.
Reacting to the disclosures, former presidential aide Bashir Ahmad criticised Philip for publicly revealing the intelligence operations.
“Stop exposing this vital information to ISWAP, please,” Ahmad wrote.
The reports emerge against the background of Nigeria’s tense security relations with the United States. After the Trump administration designated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” over alleged religious persecution, the Nigerian government rejected the classification and later dispatched a high-level delegation to the US in November.
During the meeting at the Pentagon, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, discussed efforts to combat jihadist groups and the ongoing violence across West Africa. The US emphasised the need for Nigeria to take urgent steps to protect Christian communities and combat extremist networks.
The Nigerian delegation included senior military and government officials such as the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN); Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede; and Chief of Defence Intelligence, Lt. Gen. E.A.P. Undiendeye.
So far, neither Nigeria nor the United States has issued an official statement confirming whether American ISR aircraft are operating within Nigerian airspace. Philip’s reports remain the only publicly available claims.
The allegations come at a time of worsening insecurity marked by kidnappings, executions, banditry and terror attacks across multiple regions of the country.
