The United States has launched airstrikes against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria, marking a significant escalation in the ongoing fight against extremist groups that have plagued the West African nation for years. These “powerful and deadly” strikes, as described by former U.S. President Donald Trump, targeted groups accused of “viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians,” though security analysts note Nigeria’s crisis impacts both Christian and Muslim communities.
Nigeria confirmed the U.S. strikes were part of a broader intelligence exchange and strategic coordination between the two countries. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hinted at further action, stating “More to come…” The intervention comes as Nigeria’s military continues to grapple with multiple armed factions across its vast territory, often finding itself overstretched and outgunned.
The primary target of the U.S. operation was likely the Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), known locally as Lakurawa, which has gained a lethal foothold in border states such as Sokoto and Kebbi. While Nigeria is also home to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), an offshoot of Boko Haram active in the northeast, analysts suggest the northwest strikes specifically aimed at Lakurawa, which has intensified its attacks on remote communities and security forces over the past year.
Lakurawa’s presence in northwest Nigeria dates back to approximately 2017, when local traditional authorities in Sokoto initially invited the militants to protect their communities from rampant banditry. However, the group soon “overstayed their welcome,” clashing with community leaders and imposing a harsh interpretation of Sharia law that alienated much of the rural population, according to James Barnett, an Africa researcher at the Hudson Institute.
Malik Samuel, a Nigerian security researcher with Good Governance Africa, noted that communities now openly perceive Lakurawa as more oppressive and dangerous than the bandits they were brought in to combat. The group controls territories in Sokoto and Kebbi states and is widely implicated in killings, kidnappings, rape, and armed robbery, contributing significantly to regional instability.
Beyond Lakurawa, the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project indicates that the broader Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP) has expanded its operations from Niger’s Dosso region into northwestern Nigeria. This expansion includes covert infiltration along the porous Niger-Nigeria border, with the group now extending its reach towards the Beninese border, maintaining a low profile while entrenching its presence.
Nigeria’s deep-rooted insecurity is often viewed as a governance challenge rather than solely a military one. Experts argue that the near absence of state and security presence in conflict hotspots, coupled with high levels of poverty, hunger, and unemployment, creates fertile ground for militant recruitment. Nigeria’s Minister of Defense, Christopher Musa, once stated that military action accounts for only 30% of the solution, with good governance comprising the remaining 70%.
This lack of state presence allows non-state actors to present themselves as an alternative government, filling the vacuum. The U.S. airstrikes are therefore seen as crucial support for Nigeria’s security forces, which frequently conduct their own airstrikes against militant hideouts and have embarked on mass recruitment drives to bolster their ranks. However, analysts caution that military operations against these highly mobile groups, who often use motorcycles to evade detection through vast forests, are difficult to sustain, especially when militants employ hostages, including schoolchildren, as human shields.
Addressing the complex security crisis in Nigeria will require a multifaceted approach, combining targeted military interventions with comprehensive strategies for governance reform, economic development, and community engagement to tackle the underlying causes of instability and recruitment by extremist groups.
