Last week, I spoke with a New York based TV station about the incoming administration of President elects, Bola Tinubu in Nigeria.
I also spoke about Russia-Ukraine crisis, China and western interest in Africa, amongst other issues.
As the conversation progresses, we found ourselves talking about foreign military presence in Africa, in which I confidently said there was no any foreign military presence in Nigeria, neither could there have been any because Nigerians, irrespective of the challenges are so protective of their nation and they could never have allowed any foreign military base in the country.
However, I have since learnt that i was right and wrong at the same time.
While it is true that Nigeria could not have deliberately allow any foreign military base in the country, it appeared that the country may have indirectly allowed United Kingdom be operating a semi military base in the country.
While checking UK military bases around the world, a wikipedia document listed Nigeria as one of the countries hosting UK foreign military base, without explaining further.
I soon realized that, contrary to my position that there is no foreign military presence of any kind in Nigeria, investigation reveals that there’s UK military presence in Nigeria.
The UK established the base in Nigeria in 2014, during the heat of Boko Haram insurgency and advocacy of Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) to return the kidnapped Chibok girls, an advocacy I was also associated with.
The base was established under the name “Operation Turus”.
Although it is not supposed to be a base, since 2014 till date, it is operating as such, gradually increasing its capacity, even with more personnel.
Operation Turus is the code name of the British military operation to “allegedly” assist Nigeria during the Boko Haram insurgency. It was launched in April 2014 by Prime Minister David Cameron in response to the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping which saw over a hundred schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram, a jihadist terrorist organisation in northeastern Nigeria.
Initial efforts were focused on the search for the missing schoolgirls, with the UK deploying military specialists, satellite imagery and reconnaissance aircraft from the Royal Air Force.
In May 2014, the Royal Air Force deployed a Sentinel R1 surveillance aircraft from No. 5 Squadron RAF to assist with the search for the missing schoolgirls. The aircraft was based in Accra, Ghana and developed a fault day into its deployment. It was subsequently repaired in Senegal and returned to operations. In 10 sorties, the aircraft had mapped the whole of Nigeria using its dual-mode synthetic aperture radar / moving target indication (SAR/MTI) radar.
A team consisting of military advisors was also deployed to Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, to work alongside similar American and French teams. The deployment augmented an existing British Military Advisory Training Team (BMATT) and included Special Forces personnel.
In August 2014, three Tornado GR4 strike aircraft from No. 2 Squadron RAF were deployed to Chad. Based in N’Djamena, the aircraft flew over Nigeria equipped with RAPTOR reconnaissance pods and supported the search for the missing schoolgirls. The detachment comprised up to 91 military personnel and had returned to the UK by 17 October. A total of 56 sorties were made, including the transit from the UK. The aircraft were also unarmed and required no tanker support. The UK also provided satellite imagery.
After these operations, the UK claimed to have located the missing girls, but instead of giving the location to Nigeria military to carry out the ground operations to rescue them, they alongside other western interest, including US insisted they must be allowed a base in the country to carry out the rescue operations themselves, something the Nigerian government rejected, citing national concerns.
As global and local pressure continues to mount on the government over the Chibok girls, it appeared the then leadership granted limited access to the foreign interest in the country.
The UK later claimed to have shifted its focus towards training and supporting the Nigerian Armed Forces to help it counter violent extremists through other aspects.
In June 2014, Foreign Secretary William Hague announced the UK would increase its military aid to Nigeria, including a tactical training programme.
In 2015, the UK had around 130 military personnel deployed in Nigeria, including Short Term Training Teams (STTT) which was mainly supported by 2nd Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment.
In December, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced this deployed force would be doubled to “up to 300” in 2016.
In 2016, a team of RAF personnel was deployed to provide the Nigerian Air Force training on airfield defense and counter-insurgency.
2nd Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment remained in the country through 2016. A total of 350 British military personnel were deployed to the country, including 101 (City of London) Engineer Regiment.
In 2017, 700 British military personnel had been deployed to Nigeria, including personnel from 7th Infantry Brigade and the RAF Regiment. The third STTT in the five-year programme saw involvement from No. 5 Royal Air Force Protection Wing and No. 51 Squadron RAF Regiment.
In 2018, the UK expanded its provision of equipment and training, making it seem like a full base operation.
In 2019, No. 5 Force Protection Wing RAF deployed its eighth of ten STTTs. 7,000 kg of equipment necessary for the deployment was transported via an A400M Atlas transport aircraft. The RAF Police were also involved in this deployment and delivered training on military working dogs, counter intelligence and specialist investigations.
In May 2022, British Army Colonel Neil Wright MBE assumed command of the operations.
Although it is obvious that this is not a full military base, its operations can’t be completely described as none base.
Probably this is why it was listed on Wikipedia as British military base in Nigeria.
It should recall that at least, there are 30 foreign military bases scattered across Africa, with Russia recently signing an agreement with Sudan to establish one in the country, a base which the western powers are opposed to.
