Nigeria averts unilateral US action after air strike
By publicly cooperating with the United States on the Christmas Day airstrike, the Nigerian government may have prevented the humiliating unilateral military action threatened by President Donald Trump.
But security experts say it is unclear whether such attacks will do much to thwart Islamist militants who have long threatened communities in the region.
Trump announced on Truth Social that, at the request of the Nigerian government, US forces have launched a “powerful and deadly” offensive against Islamic State militants in northwestern Nigeria.
He said the group was targeting Christians in the area.
Local media reported violent explosions in the village of Jabo on the evening of Christmas Day. Reuters could not confirm whether there were any casualties.
Trump said a US military strike targeting Islamic state militants in Nigeria was originally supposed to take place on Wednesday but ordered it postponed by a day.
“They would have done this before,” Trump said in an interview with Politico. “And I said ‘no, let’s give a Christmas present’. They didn’t see it coming, but we hit them hard. Every camp was destroyed.”
A US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the attack was carried out by about a dozen Tomahawk missiles launched from a US Navy warship in the Gulf of Guinea.
Abuja confirmed it had approved the operation. Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar said on Friday that Nigeria was acting in partnership with the United States but that no particular religion was targeted.
Speaking to Nigerian Channel Television, Tuggar said, “Nigeria is a multi-religious country and we work with partners like the United States to fight terrorism and protect lives and property.” he said.
Following the attack, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said “more to come” on X.
The US official said another attack was not imminent but did not rule out future operations.
This particular attack was carried out by the United States, in part because it was too far out of reach for Nigerian forces, the official said.
“This is partly symbolic,” the official said, adding that the purpose is also to provide deterrence and to send the message that the Trump administration is ready to use the military.
The northwestern region, where Thursday’s airstrike took place, has been grappling since 2024 with rising violence from members of the Lakurawa sect, a hardline Sunni Islamist movement that claims ties to the Islamic State group.
Founded as an outlaw outfit, the group evolved into a jihadist movement that enforced strict Islamist rule in hundreds of villages in the region. Nigeria designated the group a terrorist organization earlier this year.
“It is very likely that this is the group that Trump is talking about when he talks about US military strikes in Nigeria,” said Confidence MacHarry, senior analyst at Lagos-based SBM Intelligence.
“They are also linked to widespread cattle theft, with most of the stolen animals going to markets along the Nigeria-Niger border.”
Cameron Hudson, a former US official working on Africa-related issues, said the attack was unlikely to have a major impact in the near term.
“It’s unrealistic to think that a few cruise missiles will change very much in the short term,” Hudson said. “The Trump administration will have to demonstrate its long-term commitment to ending this militancy if it hopes to have any impact.”
Nigeria’s population of more than 230 million is roughly evenly divided between majority Christians in the south and majority Muslims in the north.
with AP
