This region is primarily plagued by banditry—violent criminal gangs involved in mass kidnapping for ransom, cattle rustling, and communal violence. While there are concerns about these groups being influenced by or aligning with jihadist ideologies,

While the U.S. did conduct a rare direct strike against an ISIL affiliate (ISWAP) in Nigeria, the location was in the northeast, the epicenter of the jihadist insurgency, not the northwest, which is more known for banditry

Trump, who has previously threatened greater US intervention in Nigeria over dubious claims that a “genocide” of Christians is taking place there, said ISIL fighters had been “viciously” killing and targeting Christians at levels unseen for “centuries”.

“I have  these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was,” Trump said.

The US military’s Africa Command (AFRICOM), which is responsible for operations in Africa, said in a post on X that the air strike was carried out “at the request of Nigerian authorities” and had killed “multiple ISIS terrorists”.