DHQ: U.S. troop drawdown won’t affect Nigeria-U.S. security cooperation

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has said the planned withdrawal of about 200 United States military personnel from Nigeria will not affect the country’s security cooperation with Washington.

The DHQ urged Nigerians and the media not to interpret the planned troop drawdown as a breakdown in the bilateral security partnership, stressing that intelligence sharing, training, technical assistance and other forms of military cooperation remained intact.

Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Samaila Uba, said the reported withdrawal should be viewed as a routine adjustment to specific operational requirements and not as a termination of the Nigeria United States defence relationship.

The New York Times had reported last week that about 200 U.S. military personnel deployed to Nigeria to support intelligence gathering and training in the fight against terrorism were being withdrawn.

Uba said the relationship between Nigeria and the United States remained “strong, enduring and mutually beneficial”, noting that U.S. military deployments were tied to specific operational and counter-terrorism missions.

According to him, the changing nature of military operations sometimes requires adjustments in the deployment of foreign personnel without affecting the broader strategic partnership.

“Our cooperation with the United States is designed to strengthen our capabilities through intelligence sharing, training, technical assistance and other forms of professional military cooperation,” he said.

Meanwhile, the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) has dismissed a viral video linking the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to the importation of illegal weapons intercepted at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos.

Director General of the NCCSALW, DIG Johnson Kokumo (rtd.), dismissed claims in the video alleging that suspects arrested in connection with the illegal arms seized at the port were sponsored by Ribadu.

Kokumo said he was personally present when the Nigerian Customs Service handed over 399 assorted automatic weapons intercepted at the port to the centre.

“The story in the video is not correct and cannot be correct.

“I was at the Tin Can Island Port with the Comptroller General. Three hundred and ninety nine assorted automatic weapons were intercepted by the Nigerian Customs Service at the port.

“And this cache of arms, illegal weapons, was handed over to the centre,” he said.

1,419 illicit arms destroyed in Q2

Kokumo also disclosed that 1,419 illicit weapons were destroyed during the Second Quarter Arms Destruction Exercise for 2026, conducted on July 30 at the Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment, Giri, Abuja.

He said the exercise brought to more than 19,000 the number of illicit weapons destroyed by the centre since 2022.

According to him, the destruction formed part of efforts to deny terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers and other criminal groups access to illicit weapons.

Kokumo further disclosed that the centre received 5,050 illicit, unserviceable, decommissioned and obsolete assorted automatic weapons retrieved from the Nigeria Police Force in June.

He added that 399 JOJEF automatic guns intercepted by the Customs Service were handed over to the centre on August 17.

Kokumo said the government was not targeting legitimate local arms manufacturers, noting that some artisanal producers possessed skills that could be harnessed for national development.

He said the government’s concern was particularly with criminal manufacturers producing sophisticated weapons.

“From time immemorial, in villages in Nigeria, we have traditional, well aligned rights where people even fire for joy; they use Dane guns to do all this. We have local hunters who go into the bushes to hunt for rats and rabbits.

“All these guns, of course, are manufactured by local artisanal producers. But what we are seeing now is the introduction of sophisticated weapons,” he said.

Kokumo said the centre was working to identify and deal with criminal manufacturers while developing plans to integrate talented legitimate artisans into productive national service.

“We have identified talents among the local manufacturers. Those who are naturally talented, of course, will be absorbed into our plans, and we’ll see how they can be most efficient and most productively used in national service,” he said.