The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) refuted claims that 200 troops deployed to Nigeria to carry out joint intelligence and training operations against ISIS and other terrorist elements within the country were withdrawn.
Director of Defence Information, Major General Samaila Uba, clarified that the troops reportedly withdrawn from the Lake Chad Basin are different from the 200 troops deployed to Nigeria, insisting that the Nigeria-US joint partnership remains unchanged.
A foreign news agency had reported that the US pulled its troops from Nigeria after its successful counter terrorism operation that killed ISIS number leader Al Manuki, quoting Commander of US Air Forces in Africa, General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, as having made the statement.
However, Major General Uba said, The Commander was primarily talking about the additional forces that came to execute the mission in Lake Chad, and not Initial US personnel deployed to Nigeria.
He noted that Nigeria and the US continue to work closely together to disrupt and eliminate shared threats and that remains unchanged.
