Governance expert and policy analyst, Professor Enoch Opoku Antwi, has described as laughable, the Nigerian government’s commendation of the United States for launching a strike in its Sokoto state.
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 operation 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, Prof. Antwi said he wished the act had been carried out by the Nigerian government itself, rather than allowing the United States to chart the course for the West African nation to laud the efforts.
Commenting on the matter on the BigIssue segment of the NewDay morning show on TV3 Friday, December 26, 2025, Prof. Antwi said it would’ve been better for Nigeria to kick out IS on their own.
“The funny thing that I saw today was the Nigerian government saying that the strike from America was a precision of a strike. You’ve not been able to do it, America is doing it for you and you’re praising Americans. I wish Nigerians would have been able to fight their own fight and [kick] the ISIS out. But as it is, no,” he stated.
He explained that the US acted due to its Christian roots, leaving no room for any individual or groups to torment Christians. He added that Abuja’s failure to address the issue since, prompted the US to intervene.
“America is a country of Christians –In God We Trust– so if you touch Christians, you’ve touched Americans and unfortunately the Nigerian government has not been able to fix that problem. There is lamentation from Christians of south-western north of Nigeria that they are being killed by this ISIS and Boko Haram and adoptions.”
Prof. Antwi, however, expressed hope that the strike spared innocent victims. “But we hope that there wasn’t an excess, that other people who are innocent, especially women and children.”
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 launches deadly strikes against ISIS group in Nigeria – Trump
