Daily Trust Editorial, Wednesday December 31, 2025
On the night of Wednesday, December 24, 2025, US President Donald Trump made good his threat to strike against suspected terrorists of the ISIS who he accused of launching “Genocidal attacks on the Christian” population in Nigeria. The strikes were reportedly launched from ships stationed somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, and from Ghana, aimed at targets in the villages Tangaza Local Government Area of Sokoto state.
The US’s Africa Command (Africom), which carried out the attack, said the operation was done at the request of Nigerian authorities.
Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar, who confirmed the statement by Africom of acting in collaboration with Nigerian military, however said the strikes were not aimed at any religious community. Tuggar emphasized that “Nigeria is a multi-religious country and we are working with partners like the US to fight terrorism and protect lives and property.”
The U.S. strikes were reportedly aimed at terrorist strongholds/camps in the Bauni Forest axis of Tangaza LGA, particularly around villages such as Waria and Alkassim, which are believed to be used by ISIS-linked or Lakurawa militants. Nigerian military assessments after the strike reported extensive destruction of militant hideouts and forested areas there, even though the citizens, and others around the world, are still waiting to see graphic evidence.
Predictably, the strikes caused apprehension not only in Jabo, also in Sokoto State, which has not recorded security breaches for long, as well as Offa in Kwara State, where the unexpected swarms of Tomahawk cruise missiles landed, but in the whole of Nigeria and beyond.
It was an unprecedented development in Nigerian history and naturally was bound to generate tension all over the country as there were no immediate confirmation of the number of lives lost and possible damages caused to the environment where the strikes were aimed.
It is the first time in the country’s history that Nigerians woke up to a military intervention by a foreign power. The worse is the fact that they do not know when such intervention will end or what it may lead to in the future. But, more importantly, the bombing raised a number of questions which require immediate response from relevant government officials.
The most prominent question is why did the Nigerian government allow a foreign power to launch strikes on Nigerian soil without seeking the approval of the National Assembly as required by the Constitution?
Again, why did Nigerian authorities allow the US to lead the narrative on the tenor of the terrorist scourge in Nigeria in the process giving it the coloration of “genocide” against only the Christian population? This allegation was repeated by President Trump in his post announcing the attack.
We believe that Nigerians would not be averse to a frank support to end the teething security challenges that has pushed their lives to the precipice, but the apparent failure of our leaders to vigorously challenge the narrative of the US on the killings in Nigeria, they have unwittingly played into the hands of the US and further risk sowing discord among Nigerians along religious line.
But beyond this, Daily Trust believes that the action by the US may open the way for more flagrant intervention in Nigeria’s internal affairs in the name of addressing security issues thereby mortgaging our sovereignty. It casts a shadow on our image of a leader in Africa who for many years intervened to restore peace in other countries.
It is pertinent for our leaders to take up the challenge of leadership of ensuring security for the citizens. It must be admitted that the situation we found ourselves today was as a result of lack of political will to tackle the crisis headlong. Instead many officials charged with ensuring security used the opportunity to enrich themselves while the situation worsened.
We cannot afford to give away our sovereignty and pride on a platter of gold to another nation at a time when the countries are becoming more selfish. History has shown that the US has never been able to bring in peace and stability in many of its military interventions across the world. Rather, many of those countries have ended worse off than they were.
Let it be stated clearly that President Trump’s military intervention is not about saving Nigerian Christians from genocide. It is more of an attempt to divide and conquer Nigerians in order to advance US interests in the current global geopolitical competition against its rivals.
We believe the way out is for our political and military leaders to resolve to serve the country diligently, review the situation and come up with a road map of addressing the security situation. This is not insurmountable once there is the political will.
