On 25 December, the United States and Nigeria carried out missile strikes against Islamist militants in Sokoto State in north-West Nigeria, marking one of the most significant foreign-enabled military actions on Nigerian soil in recent history.
The strikes, ordered by US President Donald Trump and approved by President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria, targeted Islamic State-linked fighters and were described by US and Nigerian authorities as “precision” attacks against designated terrorist camps.
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The Nigerian government clarified that it took part in the operation by providing intelligence to the US. Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar also said President Bola Tinubu approved the operation.
According to official statements by the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), the strikes focused on Islamic State (ISIS) militant positions in Sokoto State. The strikes reportedly hit multiple ISIS targets, intending to degrade their operational capabilities, based on intelligence shared between US and Nigerian security agencies.
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Islamic State in Nigeria
The Islamic State suffered a major setback following the killing of its top leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in 2019, and the subsequent deaths of successor leaders in later years. These losses weakened the group’s central command, disrupted coordination and accelerated the collapse of its territorial control in Iraq and Syria.
Despite its setbacks, ISIS adapted by expanding through affiliates in other fronts, including Africa, where its franchises, such as Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and the Islamic State’s Sahel Province, continue to exploit regional conflicts and local grievances to remain relevant.
ISIS has been a central feature in Nigeria’s decade-long Boko Haram insurgency. After the then Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2015, the group received ideological and propaganda support. Disagreements over leadership and strategy later led ISIS to withdraw support from Mr Shekau, backing the breakaway ISWAP faction instead. This split weakened Boko Haram’s unity but created a more structured ISWAP, now considered one of the most resilient jihadist groups in the Lake Chad region.
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However, ISWAP is primarily active in the North-east.
The nature of terrorism in Sokoto
In contrast to the North-east, the terrorism threat in Sokoto and other North-western states is more fragmented, comprising cross-border jihadi-linked militants and radicalised bandit groups.
Militant leaders such as Bello Turji have attacked villages and targeted travellers along major roads. They were later joined by Lakurawa jihadists, whom locals initially invited to help combat banditry.
But the presence of the Islamic State in Sokoto, which the US and Nigeria said they targeted, continued to be debated among jihadi experts.
In a 2022 study conducted by Murtala Rufa’i, James Barnett, and Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, Lakurawa was linked to Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda franchise in Mali. The JNIM was formed in March 2017 when four Mali-based extremist groups — Ansar al-Din, al-Murabitun, the Macina Liberation Front (MLF), and the Sahara Emirate subgroup of al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) — merged forces.
However, Mr Barnett, in his recent research, found that Lakurawa is now linked to ISSP.
“Given the fluidity of jihadi alliances and fracturing in the Sahel, some of the original members of Lakurawa may have been affiliated with JNIM in 2017-2018 but are now affiliated with ISSP,” he argued.
Other experts still believe the group is affiliated with JNIM. Responding to an X post [now deleted], Malik Samuel, a senior researcher at Good Governance Africa (GGA), said Lakurawa is “more al-Qaeda (JNIM).”
“I haven’t seen any evidence suggesting there is a link to ISIS,” he stated.
Lakurawa in the North-west
In 2017, community leaders in Tangaza and Gudu LGAs of Sokoto invited the Lakurawa fighters as mercenaries to suppress bandits infiltrating their communities from neighbouring Zamfara State, Mr Ruf’ai, a historian with expertise in local terrorism, said in one of his studies.
The Lakurawas, according to a traditional ruler in Balle village in Gudu LGA, were from Mali, and they speak Arabic and Fulfude.
“They were invited to provide security to our communities,” the traditional ruler had said in an interview with Mr Ruf’ai in 2021.
“The District Head of Balle in Gudu Local Government together with the District Head of Gongono in Tangaza Local Government met with Alhaji Bello Wamakko, the then Chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and discussed how to tackle Zamfarawa (Bandits),” the traditional ruler continued. “They finally reached the conclusion to hire Lakurawa from Mali in order to deal with Zamfarawa bandits.”
He added that he warned the then-Governor Aliyu Wamakko about the invitation of the Lakurawas.
Community leaders who invited the group also contributed to their growth by soliciting support in cash, cows, logistics and weapons for them.
The first media report about the group was downplayed by the police, saying they were “non-violent herders” who migrated to find water for their animals.
The group became violent when it killed one of the leaders who invited them. The community leader, the district head of Tangwaza, was killed when he denied the terrorists’ claim that his son who died in a fire accident was owing them N63 million.
Prior to that, the group had been preaching radical Islam to locals, taxing herders. They also prohibited alcohol consumption and music.
The group’s growing attacks on military formations in border areas triggered joint border operations by Nigerian and Nigerien military forces in 2018, Messrs Rufa’i, Barnett and Abdulaziz stated in their study.
The Nigerian authorities’ failure to address the Lakurawa threat allowed the group to re-emerge in 2021. This time, it aligned with bandits and Fulani communities against the outlawed Yan Sakai vigilante group.
Also the coup in Niger and the collapsed joint military operations of Nigerian and Nigerien forces appear to have further emboldened the terror group.
The group has now expanded to Kebbi State, where the police said the terrorists killed police officers and Airtel workers. In its main stronghold, a military aerial operation targeting its fighters killed 10 civilians. The families of the victims were recently “compensated” by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF).
Who are the victims of violence in Sokoto?
The violence in Sokoto has taken a heavy toll on civilians of all backgrounds, with farmers, villagers, women, and children among the victims of raids, kidnappings and rampant killings attributed to terror groups operating in the area.
A years-long campaign of terror on communities in Sokoto State has led to the killings of dozens of civilians, forcing many to flee their homes and disrupting local life.
While President Trump justified the missile strikes by stating that the terrorists had targeted Christians, Nigerian officials and independent observers emphasise that insecurity in the region affects people of all faith, and that the insecurity stems from several factors, including criminal banditry, jihadi violence, and weak state protection.
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