Trump’s Nigeria strikes: A misleading narrative

OPINION Shanta Premawardhana | Baptist News Global | December 29, 2025

On Christmas Day, President Donald Trump announced the United States had launched airstrikes in Sokoto State in Northwestern Nigeria “to protect the country’s Christian population from the terrorist group (ISIS).”

Although Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry acknowledged collaboration with the U.S., many Nigerian and African leaders view this as an assault on Nigerian sovereignty, worrying that continued unilateral intervention threatens all Africa. U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s social media posting confirmed this is the first of more attacks to come…