Ghanaian legal practitioner, Austin Kwabena Brako-Powers, has criticised the US government for launching a strike in Nigeria.
He says the reason cited by President Trump for the action is being perpetuated in other parts of the world, and targeting Nigeria is an act of “hypocrisy”.
President Trump in a social media post on Thursday, December 25, 2025, posted that the “powerful and deadly strike” was against the Islamic State (IS) group in the north-western part of Nigeria.
The US leader described IS as ” terrorist scum”, accusing the group of “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians”.
Trump said the US military “executed numerous perfect strikes”, while the US Africa Command (Africom) later reported that Thursday’s attack was carried out in co-ordination with Nigeria in the Sokoto state.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar told the BBC it was a “joint operation” targeting “terrorists”, and it “has nothing to do with a particular religion”.
Without naming IS specifically, Tuggar said the operati on had been planned “for quite some time” and had used intelligence information provided by the Nigerian side.
The minister did not rule out further strikes, adding that this depended on “decisions to be taken by the leadership of the two countries”.
Reacting to the development, Brako-Powers said the Nigerian government was unaware of the strike but is claiming to have sanctioned it to deceive citizens into thinking it’s in control.
Speaking on TV3’s NewDay, the BigIssue segment, the Ghanaian lawyer described Trump as a determined man.
“This strike, I can tell you that the Nigerian government has no clue, they did not even know about this strike,” he stated. “What they are doing is to save face so that their people will feel that they are in control. Donald Trump is someone who is determined and when he says he is coming after you, he’ll come after you.”
Brako-Powers powers listed other places where such things are happening without the US taking a similar stance. “I think the strike was a demonstration of hypocrisy on the part of the US President. Because we know what is happening in Palestine, we know what Israel is doing.”
Responding to concerns about possible repercussions of his criticism against the US government, possibly being denied a visa, he said criticism is necessary when one is wrong, regardless of their status. “We must be a people of conscience and whatever they do, we must be able to criticise.”
Trump had earlier announced that he had declared Nigeria a “country of particular concern” because of the “existential threat” posed to its Christian population. He said “thousands” had been killed, without providing any evidence.
In November, he ordered the US military to prepare for action in Nigeria to tackle Islamist militant groups.
He did not say at the time which killings he was referring to, but claims of a genocide against Nigeria’s Christians have been circulating in recent months in some right-wing US circles.
Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday that he was “grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation”.
“Merry Christmas!” he added, writing on X.
The US Department of Defense later posted a short video that appeared to show a missile being launched from a military vessel.
On Friday morning, the Nigerian foreign ministry said in a statement that the country’s authorities “remain engaged in structured security co-operation with international partners, including the United States of America, in addressing the persistent threat of terrorist and violent extremism.
“This has led to precision hits on terrorist targets in Nigeria by air strikes in the North West,” the statement said.
US strike on IS group: ‘I wish Nigerians would’ve fought their own fight’ – Prof Antwi
