On Christmas Day 2025, the United States military carried out airstrikes against ISIS terrorists in northwest Nigeria’s Sokoto State, a move announced by President Donald Trump and confirmed by U.S. Africa Command. Nigerian authorities said the operation was undertaken with intelligence support and cooperation between Nigerian and U.S. forces, targeting insurgent camps linked to extremist groups.
Trump framed the action as a response to what he described as ongoing violence against Christians in the country, praising the strikes on his social media, while Nigerian officials emphasised that the violence in Nigeria affects both Christians and Muslims and that the operation was part of broader security cooperation.
There is a curious and weighty silence beneath this Christmas Day action — not the silence of peace, but the kind that follows decisions made far from the communities most affected. When missiles fly against militants on a day meant for reflection and togetherness, the narrative becomes more than a tactical announcement; it becomes a mirror for global and local storytelling about security, faith, and intervention. Trump’s framing, echoed by some of his supporters, cast the strikes as a defence of some over others — a narrative that stirred deeper conversations about whom we imagine as deserving protection, and in what terms we justify force.
In Nigeria, a nation marked by a tapestry of faiths and histories, violence afflicts people across lines of religion, ethnicity, and geography. The holiday strikes invite us to look at how stories of suffering and response travel across borders, and how collective pain can be translated into action that may be welcomed by some and questioned by others. Perhaps the deeper thread beneath this moment is not simply what happened, but how we hold both intention and consequence together — the intention to protect life, and the consequence felt in places where peace and fear are not abstract terms but daily lived realities. And the quiet question that lingers is this: when global power speaks in terms of protection, whose stories are being foregrounded — and whose voices get left behind?
✍️“feel free to disagree in the comments 👀 ☝️👆 & let JAIYEORIE know what U think!” 📎
✍️“feel free to disagree in the comments 👀 ☝️👆 & let JAIYEORIE know what U think!” 📎
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