Following repeated accusations that Nigeria’s government has failed to stop violence against Christians in the country, Donald Trump announced a series of airstrikes on targets in the west African nation on Christmas Day.
The strikes, which targeted Islamic State (IS) militants in Nigeria’s northwestern Sokoto state, mark one of Trump’s most recent uses of military force abroad. The move comes weeks after the US President threatened action amid months of allegations from politicians and activists.
Announcing the operation via Truth Social, Trump said the strikes were aimed at Islamic State “terrorists” and warned that “if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay”.
“Tonight there was”, he added.
Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, told the BBC that the operation was joint and it had “nothing to do with a particular religion”, claiming the strikes had been planned for a while and the US had used information provided by Nigeria to carry them out.
The number of fatalities has yet to be confirmed, though the US Africa Command Public Affairs office (Africom) wrote that “multiple ISIS terrorists were killed in the ISIS camps”.
Why Nigeria and why now?
Claims that Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria have circulated and been amplified within parts of the US, particularly among the country’s right.
In September, Republican Senator Ted Cruz introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, a bill protecting Christians and other religious minorities from being persecuted in Nigeria, by holding Nigerian officials who facilitate “Islamist jihadist violence” accountable.
Cruz said: “Nigerian Christians are being targeted and executed for their faith by Islamist terrorist groups, and are being forced to submit to sharia law and blasphemy laws across Nigeria.”
In November, Trump listed Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” under the US International Religious Freedom Act. The move followed weeks of lobbying by conservative Christian organisations and Republican lawmakers.
Around the same time, Trump said he had ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action, before posting on Truth Social that the US would go into Nigeria “guns-a-blazing”.
(Credit: Anadolu via Getty Images)Are Nigerian Christians being targeted?
Nigeria’s government has previously pushed back on claims that Christians are being targeted by violence.
In a press conference in April, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar refuted Trump’s persecution claims, pointing to Nigeria’s own Constitutional Commitment to Religious Freedom and Law.
“This is what shows that it’s impossible for there to be a religious persecution that can be supported in any way, shape or form by the government of Nigeria at any level,” Tuggar said, according to German broadcaster DW News.
Nigeria is officially secular, and the country’s 220 million population is almost evenly split, with around 53% of the population identifying as Muslim and 45% as Christian, with the rest practising traditional African religions. However, recent attacks against Christians have attracted global attention.
In April 2025, 56 people were killed when a Muslim gunman opened fire in an attack in central Nigeria over land. Religious differences were reported as intensifying the conflict.
Meanwhile, in August, gunmen killed at least 50 worshippers during an attack on a mosque in Katsina, a northwestern state. Islamist group Boko Haram, who ordered Christians to leave the north part of the country in 2012, and other armed groups, have also carried out deadly attacks in Muslim communities across the north.
Clashes between nomadic Muslim herders and predominantly Christian farming communities also occur in Nigeria.
Your next read
square BRITS ABROADThe Spanish town where Britons are buying up €500,000 homes
square WORLD AnalysisMaga’s biggest fear is coming true and Trump won’t survive it
square DONALD TRUMP AnalysisTrump’s latest egotistical act raises new questions about his mental state
square DONALD TRUMP AnalysisTrump has made a big diplomacy error – the Ukraine proposal proves it
What could happen next?
Over the past few years, successive Nigerian governments have found it difficult to manage the escalating security crisis, resulting in increased deaths and kidnappings.
However, US airstrikes are likely to inflame tensions, and could lead to further violence. Tuggar said he would not rule out further strikes, while the White House is yet to announce any further plans.
Hence then, the article about why trump has launched attacks on isis in nigeria was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Why Trump has launched attacks on Isis in Nigeria )
Also on site :
- Supermarket timings for Boxing Day and New Year revealed for Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Lidl and more
- Anycubic Opens Deposits for Kobra X, Following Formnext Debut of Its Next-Generation Entry-Level Multicolor FDM Printer
- ABL Bio Receives Upfront Payment for License, Research and Collaboration Agreement for Grabody Platform and Equity Investment from Lilly