The recent airstrikes by the United States in northwestern Nigeria signify a significant intensification in the ongoing battle against Islamic State militants in the region. This military action, occurring on Thursday in Sokoto state, underscores the challenges Nigeria’s military has faced in managing the persistent insurgency.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced via social media that these “powerful and deadly” strikes were directed at Islamic State extremists accused of targeting and mercilessly killing innocent Christians. However, local residents and security experts emphasize that Nigeria’s complex security issues impact both Christian communities in the south and the predominantly Muslim population in the north.

The Nigerian government, grappling with multiple armed factions, acknowledged that the airstrikes were part of a broader collaboration on intelligence and strategic efforts with the United States. This cooperation highlights the international dimension of Nigeria’s internal security challenges.

While the exact impact of the strikes remains unverified due to limitations on the ground, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hinted at ongoing operations with a brief statement on social media, “More to come…” This suggests a continued commitment to addressing militant threats in the region.

The militants targeted by US airstrikes

Nigeria is home to several armed groups, including factions linked to the Islamic State. Among these are the Islamic State West Africa Province, an offshoot of Boko Haram operating in the northeast, and the less publicized Islamic State Sahel Province, locally referred to as Lakurawa, active in the northwest.

Though officials did not specify the exact target of the strikes, security analysts speculate that the operation likely focused on Lakurawa militants. This group has grown increasingly lethal in border states like Sokoto and Kebbi over the past year, frequently attacking isolated communities and security personnel.

The Nigerian military has said in the past that the group has roots in neighboring Niger and that it became more active in Nigeria’s border communities following a 2023 military coup. That coup resulted in fractured relations between Nigeria and Niger, and affected their multinational military operations along the porous border.

Militants invited to provide security now torment villages

Multiple analysts have said Lakurawa has been active in northwest Nigeria since around 2017 when it was invited by traditional authorities in Sokoto to protect their communities from bandit groups.

The militants, however, “overstayed their welcome, clashing with some of the community leaders … and enforcing a harsh interpretation of sharia law that alienated much of the rural population,” according to James Barnett, an Africa researcher with the Washington-based Hudson Institute.

“Communities now openly say that Lakurawa are more oppressive and dangerous than the bandits they claim to protect them from,” according to Malik Samuel, a Nigerian security researcher with Good Governance Africa.

Lakurawa controls territories in Sokoto and Kebbi states, and has become known for killings, kidnapping, rape and armed robbery, Samuel said.

But some of the attacks blamed on Lakurawa are by the Islamic State Sahel Province, which has expanded from Niger’s Dosso region to northwestern Nigeria, according to the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

“ISSP has maintained a low profile, operating covertly to infiltrate and entrench itself along the Niger-Nigeria border, and is now also expanding its operations toward the Beninese border,” the project said in a recent report.

Nigeria’s insecurity is deep-rooted in social issues

The security woes are more of a governance problem than a military one.

Motives for attacks differ but the gangs are often driven by the near absence of a state and security presence in conflict hot spots, making recruitment easy. Those hot spots, data show, have some of the country’s highest levels of poverty, hunger and lack of jobs.

Nigeria’s Minister of Defense Christopher Musa once said in his past capacity as the defense chief that military action is only 30% of what is needed to fix the country’s security crisis, while the remaining 70% depends on good governance.

“The absence of the state in remote communities is making it easy for non-state actors to come in and present themselves to the people as the best alternative government,” said Samuel.

US strikes seen as crucial support for Nigeria’s military

Thursday’s U.S. strikes were seen as crucial help for Nigeria’s security forces, which are often overstretched and outgunned as they fight multiple security crises across different regions.

In states like Sokoto, the military often carries out airstrikes targeting militant hideouts and Nigeria has embarked on mass recruitment of security forces.

But analysts say military operations targeting the gangs are not usually sustained and the militants easily move on motorcycles to new locations through vast forests that connect several states in the north.

They also often use hostages – including schoolchildren – as cover, making airstrikes difficult.