By Doha Madani and Reuters
President Donald Trump said that he ordered “numerous” strikes on alleged terror targets in northwest Nigeria on Christmas Day.
In a post on Truth Social on Thursday evening, the president wrote that “powerful and deadly” strikes were directed at Islamic State terrorists whom he accused of targeting and killing Christians in the country.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared Trump’s post on his own X account, adding that he was “grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation.”
A video posted by the Pentagon showed at least one projectile launched from a warship. A U.S. defense official said the strike targeted multiple militants at known ISIS camps.
Nigeria’s government, as well as experts and scholars, have previously said that Trump’s portrayal of the security situation in the West African country is misleading, as members of all faiths have suffered at the hands of Islamist extremists and other groups. On Wednesday night, a blast at a mosque in northeast Nigeria killed five people and injured 35.
The country’s population is largely split between Muslims living primarily in the north and Christians in the south.
Early Friday, a spokesperson for Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the strikes were carried out as part of ongoing security cooperation with the United States, involving intelligence sharing and strategic coordination to target militant groups.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs … confirms that Nigerian authorities remain engaged in structured security cooperation with international partners, including the United States of America,” spokesperson Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa said in a statement.
“This has led to precision hits on terrorist targets in Nigeria by air strikes in the North West,” he said.
He said the nation’s counter-terrorism work with the United States includes intelligence sharing, strategic coordination, and mutual respect in a joint effort to fight terrorist groups. This cooperative and legal effort, he said, will continue.
epublican U.S. Rep. Riley Moore, who recently traveled to the African country, also recently reiterated that the U.S. and Nigeria have established a joint task force to work on security.
In a Christmas Eve post, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu wrote on X that he prays for peace in the country, especially between those of different religions.
“I stand committed to doing everything within my power to enshrine religious freedom in Nigeria and to protect Christians, Muslims, and all Nigerians from violence,” he wrote.
Tinubu wrote in a Nov. 1 post on the platform that the “characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality.” He added that the country and its government “opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it.”
The U.S. has recently taken steps to punish Nigeria for its perceived failure to protect Christians.
In October, Trump added Nigeria back onto a list of countries that the U.S. says have violated religious freedom. Earlier this week, Nigeria was added to the U.S. travel ban list of countries facing partial restrictions and entry limitations.
The U.S. military last week launched separate large-scale strikes against dozens of Islamic State targets in Syria, after Trump vowed to hit back in the wake of a suspected ISIS attack on U.S. personnel in the country
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