Nigerian Army Sends 600 Soldiers to India for Jungle and Mountain Warfare Training

The Nigerian Army has begun sending 600 soldiers to India for specialised jungle and mountain warfare training. The first 300 left Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on Thursday 22 October 2026 aboard two Indian Air Force aircraft, a C-17 Globemaster III and an Airbus A321, the Army said. The remaining 300 will follow, and the Army says arrangements to fly them out are under way.

What the Army announced

The announcement came in a statement on 23 October from Colonel Appolonia Anele, the Army’s acting director of public relations, and was carried by Punch, The Nation and Leadership. According to the statement:

• The programme covers 600 personnel in two batches of 300.
• The first batch departed on 22 October 2026 on Indian Air Force transport aircraft.
• Major General U.G. Yusuf, coordinator of the Nigerian Military Training Support and Advisory Team at the Army Headquarters Department of Army Training, saw the troops off on behalf of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu. India’s High Commissioner to Nigeria also attended.
• The training is meant to improve troops’ skills and manoeuvre in forests, mountains and other difficult terrain, and their ability to “deny criminal elements safe havens” there.

The statement did not say where in India the troops will train, how long the course will last, which units the soldiers come from or who is paying for it. India’s Ministry of Defence had not published its own statement when this report was written. The Indian Army runs a Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School at Vairengte in Mizoram, which has trained foreign personnel before, and a High Altitude Warfare School in Gulmarg. Neither has been named as the venue.

Why jungle and mountain skills matter for Nigeria

Much of the Nigerian Army’s fighting takes place in exactly this kind of ground. In the North-East, Boko Haram factions and ISWAP have long used the Sambisa Forest, the Lake Chad islands and the Mandara Mountains along the Cameroon border as hideouts. In the North-West and North-Central, armed bandit groups operate from large forest reserves. Troops have been taking heavy losses in Borno in recent weeks: ISWAP overran a base at Mairari in mid-October, and a landmine killed eight soldiers near Gamboru on 17 October. Our report on the Air Force’s Lake Chad strike covers the wider campaign.

The Army’s own framing is about people, not equipment. Shaibu’s stated command philosophy prioritises realistic training and combat readiness. Sending a group of 600 is large for an overseas course. It will not retrain the Army by itself, but it can produce a pool of soldiers and junior leaders able to pass the skills on to their units. The Army has not said whether the graduates will form instructor cadres at home.

Nigeria–India defence ties

India’s military links with Nigeria go back to independence. Indian officers helped set up the Nigerian Defence Academy in Kaduna, which opened in 1964, and Nigerian officers have attended Indian staff and training courses for decades. India’s offer to fly the troops on its own C-17s, the Indian Air Force’s largest transport type, suggests the programme has backing at government level in New Delhi as well as in Abuja.

The training comes as Nigeria buys more equipment from abroad. Its air force is expecting Turkish and Chinese drones and more T129 ATAK helicopters (see our report on the aircraft the NAF says it expects), and Lagos will host AFRIDEX 2026. Training partnerships such as this one with India are a cheaper way to build capability than new platforms.

What to watch

• The departure date of the second batch of 300.
• Any Indian Army or Ministry of Defence statement naming the training establishment and course length.
• Whether the Nigerian Army uses graduates to set up its own jungle and mountain warfare instruction.

Sources

• Nigerian Army statement by Col. Appolonia Anele, acting Director Army Public Relations (23 October 2026), as published by Punch
• The Nation: Nigeria to train 600 personnel in jungle, mountain warfare (23 October 2026)
• Leadership: 600 soldiers go for jungle, mountain warfare training in India (23 October 2026)
• Press Information Bureau, Government of India: Training to foreign military personnel (background on the CIJW School)