*Jubilation In US Over Trump’s Strikes On ISIS In Nigeria, Uneasy Calm In Sokoto
*’An Amazing Christmas present’
*’Trump, America Will No Longer Tolerate These Barbarians’
*Attitudes Within Nigerian Govt Beginning To Favor Protecting Christians, Actions Against Those Terrorizing Christians, Moderate Muslims –Rep Huizenga
By Rosemary Ameh, Sokoto, and other reports
The US’s Christmas Day strikes against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-West Africa (ISIS/ISWAP) targets in Nigeria have been met with praise by Donald Trump supporters who for months had been agitating for the President to respond forcefully to the killings of Christians in the country.
Trump told Politico on Friday, 26 December that the Christmas strike was originally to take place on Wednesday, but the President had the operation delayed until Thursday for symbolic reasons.
“I said, ‘Nope, let’s give a Christmas present,’” Trump remarked to the outlet. “They didn’t think that was coming, but we hit them hard. Every camp got decimated.”
“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Christmas than by avenging the death of Christians through the justified mass killing of Islamic terrorists,” the far-right political activist Laura Loomer posted on X. “You’ve got to love it! Death to all Islamic terrorists! Thank you.”
Loomer said she had been informed by the US Defense Department – which the Trump administration calls the War Department – that the American cruise missile strikes carried out with the Nigerian government’s cooperation had been “a direct response to [IS] jihadi terrorists killing Christians in Nigeria.”
The US House member Randy Fine, a Florida Republican who in November supported a Congressional resolution calling for Nigeria to be designated a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) due to its religious violence, described Thursday’s strikes as an “amazing Christmas present!”
“With Muslim terrorists attacking Christians in Nigeria, Syria, and even Europe – simply for refusing to submit to Islam – the President is showing that we will no longer tolerate these barbarians,” Fine said on X, after suggesting earlier in December that “mainstream Muslims” should be “destroyed.”
The uniformity of the Republicans’ response comes in contrast to a campaign involving economic pressure as well as airstrikes on alleged drug boats that the Trump administration is waging on Venezuela to oust its President, Nicolás Maduro.
Attacks on Christians by Islamic extremist groups in Nigeria such as Boko Haram had been drawing increased attention from US Christian groups that are generally aligned with Trump.
“Do not test President Trump‘s resolved [sic] in this matter,” said a post from the Republican US House member Riley Moore of West Virginia, who introduced the Nigeria-related Congressional resolution in November. “Tonight’s (Thursday’s) strike in coordination with the Nigerian government is just the first step to ending the slaughter of Christians and the security crisis affecting all Nigerians.”
In further comments on Friday, 26 December, other Republican lawmakers praised Trump for carrying out the strikes.
North Carolina Senator Ted Budd, a Republican, said that ISIS “is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Christians & religious minorities in Nigeria.”
Budd wrote that Trump’s “decisive strikes will save lives & protect religious freedom. May God bless our brave men & women in uniform.”
Congressman Bill Huizenga, a Michigan Republican who recently led a delegation to Nigeria, said that attitudes within the Nigerian government were “beginning to turn in favor of protecting Christians – in addition to taking actions against those terrorizing Christians and moderate Muslims.”
Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, said on X that he commended the Trump administration as well as American troops for “these strikes against bloodthirsty [IS] savages who are not only persecuting Christians, but also have killed many Americans.”
Pressure on the administration to act in Nigeria had been building since July, when the US Commission on International Religious Freedom issued an advisory that said the Nigerian government was “often unable to prevent or slow to react to violent attacks by Fulani herders, bandit gangs, and insurgent entities such as JAS/Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).”
In October, Ted Cruz – a Republican senator from Texas – said the US was able to identify the perpetrators of anti-Christian violence in Nigeria “and I intend to hold them accountable.”
Cruz said that since 2009, “over 50,000 Christians in Nigeria have been massacred, and over 18,000 churches and 2,000 Christian schools have been destroyed.”
At the recent AmericaFest, a four-day gathering of US conservatives organized by Turning Point USA, the Trinidadian rap star Nicki Minaj spoke with Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, on the oppression of Christians in Nigeria. She said she loved Nigeria in part because her pastor is Nigerian.
“Hearing that people are being kidnapped – while they’re in church, people are being kidnapped, people are being killed, brutalized, all because of their religion – that should spark outrage in America, and that’s what it’s doing,” Minaj said.
Thursday’s strikes in Nigeria came less than a week after the US hit more than 70 ISIS networks and infrastructure in Syria in response to an attack that killed two American military service members as well as a civilian.
War Secretary Hegseth on Friday warned of additional US strikes against ISIS targets in northern Nigeria.
Situation In Sokoto
In Sokoto town, there has been uneasy calm following the strikes,which occurred in parts of the state and took residents by surprise.
Most residents knew of planned US strikes, with Trump having publicly declared the intention months back, but believed such would take place in the troubled Zamfara State axis, North-East Nigeria, or the crises-ridden Middle Belt states of Plateau, Benue or Nasarawa.
The heartland of the Caliphate and a major Islamic city in the country, Sokoto was visibly normal on Christmas Day as the population is dominantly Muslim, with little signs of Christmas celebrations.
However, many residents could be seen discussing the airstrikes in groups, especially as the news hit town through the mass media.
Generally, business activities continued as before and transportation was not impeded in any way.
Amidst these, former governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, reacting to the strikes, called for calm.
In a statement shared on his official X handle, Senator Tambuwal explained that the operation was conducted through cooperation between the Federal Government and the US, urging residents to remain law abiding while relevant authorities clarify the circumstances surrounding the strike.
He assured residents of Sokoto South that he is in active discussions with relevant security authorities to obtain full details of the operation and to ensure that all necessary safeguards are upheld.
The Senator emphasised that counterterrorism operations are targeted strictly at criminal and terrorist elements who threaten public safety, and not at innocent civilians who are themselves victims of insecurity.
He stressed that the protection of civilian lives remains paramount and central to all legitimate security operations.
Senator Tambuwal also commended the courage and professionalism of Nigeria’s military and security forces, noting their continued sacrifices in confronting terrorism and banditry, often in collaboration with international partners under extremely challenging conditions.
He further called on community leaders, traditional institutions, and residents to support security efforts by sharing credible information and resisting misinformation capable of heightening fear or tension within communities.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Trump
