The Federal Government has issued a formal defense of the recent precision airstrikes carried out in Nigeria’s Northwest, emphasizing that the operations are part of a coordinated effort to eliminate the “Lakurawa” extremist group.
The strikes, which took place over the Christmas period, were conducted in collaboration with international partners. The presidency clarified today that while the operations receive technical and intelligence support from the United States, they remain “anchored in national ownership.”
This clarification follows international headlines framing the strikes as a religious protection mission. Nigerian security officials maintain that the Lakurawa group, an ideological offshoot of ISIS, has terrorized both Muslim and Christian communities across Sokoto and Kebbi states. President Tinubu’s administration reaffirmed that 2026 will see a “more robust phase” of security operations, including the potential rollout of a decentralized policing system to secure farming communities in the North.
