Why bomb Sokoto? Trump’s strikes baffle Nigerians

It was late in the evening on Christmas Day when residents of the predominantly Muslim village of Jabu in Sokoto State, northwest Nigeria, said they noticed something resembling a small plane flying overhead.

“Shortly after, we heard a loud explosion and saw a huge ball of fire,” one resident told local media. “Everyone was terrified. People rushed out of their homes with their families and started running in different directions.”

The scene, which was repeated in at least two other settlements in Sokoto State, which borders Nigeria’s neighboring Niger, was part of what US President Donald Trump described as a “strong and deadly strike against the ISIS terrorist scum in northwest Nigeria.”

The US military said in its initial assessment that “several” ISIS members were killed in strikes on extremist “camps.” Trump claimed the camps were “destroyed” in an interview with Politico.

However, residents of Jabu expressed surprise at the raids, saying that the projectiles landed in empty fields, caused no casualties, and that Jabu was relatively protected from violence. They added that the last attack by militants occurred two years ago. Video footage broadcast on Nigerian television showed pieces of burning metal in what looked like farmland.

“Glory be to God, there were no casualties,” one of the men told local TV station Arise News.

Major General Samaila Uba, Director of Defense Information of the Nigerian Army, appeared to confirm Abuja’s close involvement. He added that the country’s armed forces, “in cooperation” with the United States, carried out the strike based on “reliable intelligence and careful operational planning.”

Oba went on to say that “precision strike operations against foreign elements associated with ISIS” have been approved by federal government authorities. He added that the operation confirms Nigeria’s determination, along with its strategic partners, to “confront transnational terrorism and prevent foreign fighters from establishing or expanding a foothold within Nigeria’s borders.”

The government later issued a statement saying that 16 GPS-guided precision munitions had been launched from platforms in the Gulf of Guinea. She added that the target was “terrorist pockets located within the Bawuni Forest axis in Tangaza Local Government Area” in Sokoto State.

The government said the strikes, which followed “explicit approval” from Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, succeeded in neutralizing ISIS elements seeking to infiltrate Nigeria from neighboring countries in the Sahel region.

The statement said: “Intelligence confirmed that these sites were being used as gathering and assembly areas for foreign ISIS members infiltrating Nigeria.” He added that debris fell on Gabo as well as on the town of Offa in Kwara State, but no casualties were reported.

However, some Nigerian analysts questioned the official version of events, saying that the selection of Sokoto State as a target was strange given that its population was almost entirely Muslim. They added that other states, including Niger and Kebbi in the northwest, and Borno in the northeast, where Boko Haram has historically been active, were victims of more violence.

For at least ten years, Nigeria has been exposed to overlapping security crises represented by a combination of banditry, kidnapping, clashes between herders and farmers, and Islamic extremism. Last year, nearly 9,500 people were killed in political violence, according to Acled, a nonprofit that tracks global conflict. Muslims and Christians were the victims.

Trump said that the US measures came in response to what he described as terrorist activity directed against Christians, which has been a long-standing concern of the White House.

The attacks came a day after a bomb attack on a mosque in Maiduguri, northeastern Nigeria, killing at least five people and wounding dozens. In November, gunmen kidnapped at least 200 children from a Catholic school in Niger State.

Mustafa Jimbo, a security analyst, said Sokoto’s selection was “highly questionable.” He said Sokoto was more a victim of banditry than terrorists who targeted Christians, who were almost non-existent in the state. It was not what he described as one of the country’s “terrorist hotspots”, but rather a “Muslim-majority enclave, the historic seat of the Sokoto Caliphate, and the spiritual center of Islam in Nigeria.”

Since Trump threatened in November to deploy the US military with “blazing guns” in response to attacks on “dear Christians,” the Nigerian government has been under pressure from Washington to act against the violence. Tinubu sent senior security officials to the US capital to discuss the situation and replaced his defense minister with a former general.

But despite public claims on Friday of coordination, Jimbo said he doubted whether Nigeria’s armed forces were closely involved in planning the strikes.

Omar Ardo, an opposition politician, said he was not convinced that Nigeria was actively involved. “Targeting Sokoto State without a prior ISIS presence raises questions about whether Nigerian military authorities are exercising real control over the operation or are merely spectators.”

Ardo said Tinubu owed “the nation a full and detailed explanation of the legal basis, authorization process and strategic rationale for the alleged US air strikes in Sokoto.”

Other branches of the Nigerian government were slower than the Ministry of Defense to claim full responsibility for coordinating the operation.

Earlier in the day, a senior government official, speaking on background, said he was still trying to establish the facts, including specifically when Abuja was informed of the timing and location of the strikes.

He added that Nigeria had engaged in intelligence gathering operations in cooperation with the United States in recent weeks, but acknowledged that Sokoto was not the most obvious choice of target.

So far, the Trump administration’s military focus in Africa has been largely on Somalia, where it has launched more than 100 strikes since February against alleged Islamist militants. In May, US Admiral James Kilby said Washington had launched “the largest air strike in the history of the world – at a cost of £125,000 from a single aircraft carrier – on Somalia.”