After months of warning that the United States could take military action to stop violence against Christians in Nigeria, President Donald Trump announced on Christmas Day that US forces had carried out a strike against Islamic State militants in the country’s northwest.
Nigeria’s foreign ministry confirmed that the operation was coordinated with Nigerian authorities, and a presidential adviser said Washington and Abuja were “on the same page in the fight against terrorism.”
Details about the strike are still emerging. It followed repeated threats from Trump to suspend US aid to Nigeria over violence against Christians. In November, he went as far as directing his secretary of defense to “prepare for possible action” against Africa’s most populous nation.
However, analysts and experts say the situation on the ground is more complex than Trump’s public characterization. Both Christians and Muslims — the country’s two largest religious groups — have been victims of attacks carried out by extremist groups, they told CNN.
Years of violence
Nigeria has struggled for years with widespread insecurity driven by multiple factors, including Islamist insurgency, communal conflicts, and competition over land and resources.
The country of more than 230 million people is roughly evenly split between Christians, who are concentrated mainly in the south, and Muslims, who largely live in the north.
In 2012, the Islamist group Boko Haram issued an ultimatum ordering Christians to leave northern Nigeria while calling on Muslims living in the south to return north. Since then, most targeted killings linked to Islamist groups have taken place in northern regions.
Security analysts believe Thursday’s US strikes may have targeted Lakurawa, a lesser-known extremist group operating primarily in northwestern Nigeria. According to Reuters, the group has grown more lethal in recent years, frequently attacking remote villages and security forces while using forested border regions as hideouts.
Observers note that not all violence in Nigeria is religiously motivated. Long-standing communal and ethnic tensions, as well as clashes between farmers and herders competing for scarce land and water, have also fueled deadly conflict.
CNN military analyst and retired US Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton said the US strike could disrupt Islamic State activity in the short term but warned that Nigeria’s security challenges are deeply rooted.
“The long-term issues that surround violence in Nigeria are extremely complex,” Leighton said, pointing to economic pressures and governance challenges. He added that airstrikes are typically effective only when part of a broader, sustained campaign, something that has not yet been clearly articulated.
Has the violence killed Christians?
Christians have undeniably been killed in Nigeria’s ongoing violence, though analysts stress that this is only part of the overall picture.
John Joseph Hayab, a pastor who leads the Christian Association of Nigeria in the northern region, agrees with Trump’s claim that Christians in the north have faced systematic attacks. He said the overall scale of killings has declined over the past two years, but 2025 has seen several high-profile attacks in predominantly Christian areas that drew international attention.
In April, gunmen believed to be Muslim herders killed at least 40 people in a largely Christian farming village. Two months later, more than 100 people were massacred in Yelwata, a mostly Christian community in Benue state, according to Amnesty International.
These incidents have been widely cited by segments of the US Christian evangelical movement. In August, Texas Senator Ted Cruz introduced legislation calling for sanctions against Nigeria, alleging violations of religious freedom.
Muslim victims also targeted
Muslims have also been frequent victims of extremist violence, particularly in northern Nigeria, where Islamist groups seek to impose a hardline interpretation of Islamic law.
In August, at least 50 worshippers were killed when gunmen attacked a mosque in Katsina state. Boko Haram and other armed groups have carried out numerous similar attacks on Muslim communities over the years.
“Yes, these extremist groups have sadly killed many Christians,” said Bulama Bukarti, a Nigerian human rights advocate who focuses on security and development. “However, they have also massacred tens of thousands of Muslims.”
Bukarti added that attacks in public spaces often disproportionately affect Muslims because many extremist groups operate in predominantly Muslim regions.
Available data does not support the claim that Christians are being disproportionately targeted. According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, more than 20,400 civilians were killed in attacks between January 2020 and September 2025. Of those, 317 deaths were linked to attacks specifically targeting Christians, while 417 were linked to attacks targeting Muslims. The religious identity of most victims was not recorded.
What authorities are saying
In November, Trump designated Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” under the US International Religious Freedom Act, a label applied to countries found to have committed or tolerated serious violations of religious freedom.
Nigeria’s government rejected the designation. President Bola Tinubu said at the time that portraying Nigeria as religiously intolerant “does not reflect our national reality.”
Several analysts told CNN that while religious targeting does occur, the Nigerian government must improve protection for all citizens, regardless of faith, as mass killings affect communities across religious and ethnic lines.
Tinubu has not publicly commented on the US strike announced on Christmas Day. Earlier that day, however, he posted a holiday message reaffirming his stance on religious freedom.
“I stand committed to doing everything within my power to enshrine religious freedom in Nigeria and to protect Christians, Muslims, and all Nigerians from violence,” he wrote.