The United States says it has delivered “critical military supplies” to Nigeria, weeks after American strikes on Christmas Day targeted militant-linked sites in Nigeria’s northwest.
The delivery signals deepening security cooperation between Washington and Abuja following the December 25 operation in Sokoto State, which Nigeria described as a joint mission against targets linked to the Islamic State group.
The latest engagement comes amid renewed uncertainty in bilateral relations, after President Donald Trump previously framed violence in Nigeria as persecution of Christians—an interpretation rejected by Nigeria’s government and independent analysts. Nigeria faces overlapping security crises, including a long-running jihadist insurgency in the northeast and widespread armed violence in parts of the northwest and north-central regions.
Nigeria has said the strikes targeted Islamic State-linked elements, members of the Lakurawa jihadist group, and armed criminal gangs, though the number of casualties and confirmed affiliations remain unclear. Reports from journalists indicated damage to farmland and civilian structures and civilian injuries.
