THE United States has revealed that electronic devices and intelligence materials seized from terrorists during a recent counterterrorism operation in Nigeria represent the largest cache of enemy electronic equipment recovered since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US.
News Point Nigeria reports that the disclosure was made by the United States Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council, Sebastian Gorka, during an interview with Marissa Streit, Chief Executive Officer of PragerU, a US media organisation.
According to Gorka, the quantity of electronic equipment and intelligence materials recovered during the raid was so enormous that the US had to deploy an additional aircraft to transport the items out of Nigeria.
He disclosed that US intelligence agencies have already begun examining the recovered devices to gain deeper insight into the communications, operational methods and networks of the Islamic State (ISIS).
Gorka described the mission in Nigeria as one of the most significant counterterrorism successes recorded by the administration, likening the operation to scenes from a Hollywood movie.
He said the operation resulted in the killing of 199 jihadists in a single raid, describing it as the largest number of enemy combatants neutralised in one counterterrorism operation since the September 11 attacks.
“I can talk about this because it has been declassified. The President is not nation-building; he’s not going around the world like some lunatic neocon saying, ‘we will turn the world into America’.
“But if you’re threatening Americans, or if you’re targeting Christians, because they are Christians, he has a very strong message to send to you, whether it was his Christmas Day strike, or three weeks ago, what we did in Nigeria.
“Three weeks ago in Nigeria, and I watched it live from the Situation Room. It was like being in a Tom Clancy movie, but it’s better because it’s real. I watched our operatives kill 199 jihadists in one operation.
“Now, why is this important? That is the biggest neutralisation enemy killed in action since September the 11th — 199 jihadists who will not harm Americans again.
“Not only that, from that raid we brought home, we needed an extra plane to bring home all the electronic material that we captured in those camps. And the haul was three times bigger than any enemy electronics haul since 9-11.
“And that is priceless, because now our experts are taking apart all of that information, looking at how ISIS is communicating with each other. We are so back in the game of counterterrorism. It is just superlative to watch our professionals,” Gorka said.
The senior counterterrorism official also disclosed that President Donald Trump’s administration has eliminated more than 1,000 jihadists across different parts of the world.
Explaining why Africa has become a major focus of US counterterrorism efforts, Gorka said terrorist organisations thrive in ungoverned territories where they can regroup and rebuild.
“Terrorists need ungoverned space. They need somewhere where they can hang out and rebuild. Africa has a lot of ungoverned space. That’s why I focus a lot of my attention on that region of the world where ISIS is trying to reconstitute a caliphate,” he said.
The operation in Nigeria was carried out in collaboration with the Nigerian government as part of the growing security partnership between both countries.
Since December 2025, the United States has expanded counterterrorism cooperation with Nigeria, focusing on intelligence sharing, counterterrorism strategies and military capacity building.
The partnership was further strengthened following a meeting in Washington in November 2025 between senior US officials and a Nigerian delegation led by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu.
The meeting culminated in an agreement by both countries to establish a Nigeria-US Joint Working Group on Security.
In December 2025, US and Nigerian military personnel jointly conducted counterterrorism raids against insurgents in northern Nigeria as part of the enhanced collaboration.
Nigeria’s worsening security situation had earlier drawn international attention after President Donald Trump raised concerns over what he described as the genocide of Christians in Nigeria and threatened to deploy the US military to the country “guns-a-blazing.”
However, the Federal Government rejected the claim, insisting that it was taking concrete steps to address the country’s security challenges.
On November 21, the US House Subcommittee on Africa reviewed Nigeria’s redesignation as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).
Also in November 2025, President Bola Tinubu approved the constitution of the Nigerian component of the US-Nigeria Joint Working Group to deepen bilateral cooperation in tackling security threats.
The composition of the Nigerian team, led by Ribadu, was part of the agreements reached during the Washington meeting.
Other members of the Joint Working Group include the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Defence, Minister of Interior, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, the Chief of Defence Staff, the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency and the Inspector-General of Police.
In January 2026, the United States delivered military supplies to Nigerian security agencies to strengthen ongoing security operations across several parts of the country.
As part of the growing collaboration, Ribadu also held a strategic meeting with US Vice President J. D. Vance, where he briefed him on the Federal Government’s ongoing security reforms and operational measures aimed at improving national security across Nigeria.