United states to send 200 troops to Nigeria to train African nation's military

NAME: OGUSANYA OLUANMILOLA AGBOLAHUN
MATRICULATI NUMBER: 240912140

By Ogunsanya OluwaFunmilola
Lagos, Nigeria-
President Donald Trump
- The United States is planning to send about 200 troops to Nigeria to train the African nation's military to fight Islamist militants, a U.S. official said on Tuesday, weeks after President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes against what he called Islamic State targets. The U.S. military said it sent a small team of troops to Nigeria without specifying a number, marking the first acknowledgment of U.S. forces on the ground since Washington struck by air on Christmas Day. Trump has said there would be more U.S military action in Nigeria and Reuters has reported that the U.S. had been conducting surveillance flights over the country from Ghana since at least late November.

The official said the 200 troops will supplement a handful of U.S. military personnel already in Nigeria to help local forces Nigeria has come under intense pressure from Washington to act after Trump alleged the West African nation was failing to protect Nigeria's population of over 230 million people is roughly evenly divided among Christians, who predominate in the south, and Muslims, who predominate in the north Christians from Islamist militants operating in the northwest.