US spy plane conducting daily flights in Nigerian airspace

Reuters reported on Monday, December 22, 2025, that a US-contracted civilian aircraft has been conducting intelligence-gathering flights over large parts of Nigeria since late November almost daily. The surveillance flights come on the heels of threats by US President Donald Trump in November to intervene militarily in Nigeria in response to his false accusation that the Nigerian government is allowing jihadists to target Christians. The flights also take place after US pilot Kevin Rideout working for the international Evangelical Christian mission organization, Serving in Mission, was kidnapped in neighboring Niger two months ago. The aircraft in question is a long-range, high-altitude Gulfstream V business jet modified for surveillance missions operated by Mississippi-based Tenax Aerospace, which works closely with the US military. The modified Gulfstream V was observed on November 7 by flight tracking data at MacDill Air Force Base, which is home to the headquarters of the United States Special Operations Command in South Tampa, Florida. The plane flew to Ghana on November 24, five days after a high-level meeting between US Congressman Riley Moore and Nigerian National Security Advisor Nuhu Ribadu in Washington, D.C. The Gulfstream V takes off from the Ghanaian capital Accra and flies over Nigeria before returning to Accra. Africa Team Lead with the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute, Liam Karr, says that Accra now serves as the hub for US military logistics operations in Africa after the Nigerien junta ordered US troops to withdraw from Air Base 101 in the capital Niamey and Air Base 201 near the city of Agadez in September 2024.

Sources
Exclusive: US conducting surveillance flights over Nigeria after Trump intervention threat
Reuters
US conducts surveillance flights over Nigeria after Trump’s threat – Report
Vanguard