The United States has been carrying out surveillance flights over Nigeria since late November, signalling closer intelligence cooperation between the two countries.
Flight tracking data reviewed by Reuters could not independently verify the purpose of the operations.
The missions come after US President Donald Trump warned in November of possible military intervention in Nigeria over what he described as attacks on Christian communities.
The flights also follow the earlier kidnapping of a US pilot working for a missionary organisation in neighbouring Niger.
December flight logs show that the contractor-operated aircraft usually departs from Ghana, conducts aerial operations over Nigeria, and returns to Accra.
Mississippi-based Tenax Aerospace, which operates the aircraft, provides specialised mission planes and has links with the US military.
Requests for comment from the company were not answered.
Liam Karr, Africa team lead at the Critical Threats Project of the American Enterprise Institute, said the flights appear to operate from Accra, “a known hub for the U.S. military’s logistics network in Africa.”
Karr added the missions indicate a rebuilding of US intelligence capacity in the region following Niger’s decision last year to expel US troops and seek Russian assistance.
“In recent weeks, we’ve seen a resumption of intelligence and surveillance flights in Nigeria,” Karr told Reuters.
A former US official said the aircraft was among assets redeployed to Ghana in November by the Trump administration.
The official added the flights track the kidnapped pilot and collect intelligence on militant groups, including Boko Haram and its splinter faction, Islamic State West Africa Province.
A current US official confirmed the aircraft’s presence over Nigeria but withheld further details due to diplomatic sensitivities.
Another administration source said the US continues to collaborate with Nigeria to “address religious violence, anti-Christian attacks, and the destabilising spread of terrorism.”
All sources spoke anonymously.
The Pentagon stated that the US held “productive meetings” with Nigeria following Trump’s warning but declined to comment on intelligence missions.
Officials from the Nigerian military and Ghana’s deputy defence ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
Nigeria has maintained that extremist groups target both Muslims and Christians, warning that claims of anti-Christian persecution oversimplify the country’s security challenges.
A Nigerian security source said the US agreed on November 20, during a meeting between Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser (NSA) and Pete Hegseth, US Defence Secretary, to deploy air assets for intelligence purposes.
Flight logs show the Tenax Aerospace aircraft was at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida on November 7.
MacDill Air Force Base hosts the US Special Operations Command.
The plane arrived in Ghana on November 24 and has since flown almost daily over Nigerian territory.
The aircraft is a Gulfstream V, a long-range jet frequently modified for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions.
The operations occur amid rising insecurity in Nigeria, where President Bola Tinubu recently declared a security emergency and ordered mass recruitment into the army and police after attacks, kidnappings, and the abduction of over 300 schoolchildren in the north.