The United States has carried out a series of air and missile strikes on Nigeria while at the same time tightening immigration and refugee policies that now sharply restrict Nigerians from entering the country, raising questions about the consistency of Washington’s stated concern for persecuted Christians.
More than a dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched on Christmas Day after President Donald Trump accused the Nigerian government of failing to protect Christians facing persecution.
US military officials said the operation, which was reportedly coordinated with Nigerian authorities, was aimed at ISIS-linked groups accused by Trump of “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries.”
However, the strikes came against the backdrop of sweeping policy changes that have drastically reduced the number of refugees and migrants allowed into the United States, with Nigeria now facing some of the most severe restrictions.
Over the last decade, Nigerians received an average of 128,000 immigrant and non-immigrant visas annually, but that figure is expected to plunge under the new rules, according to an analysis by the American Immigration Council.
Analysts and local officials have repeatedly noted that victims of violence in Nigeria cut across religious lines, with both Christians and Muslims affected by the activities of armed groups operating in different parts of the country.
The latest US operation appears to follow months of rhetoric from Republican leaders and Trump-aligned evangelical groups portraying Christians as the primary victims of Nigeria’s insecurity.
Trump had earlier suggested that the United States could intervene militarily if the “slaughter of Christians” continued and has since warned that more attacks would follow.
The Christmas Day strikes hit Sokoto State, a predominantly Muslim area where recent violence has been linked to a group known as Lakurawa, according to conflict monitoring organisations.
Some researchers said the group has ties to the Islamic State, while others argue it may be linked to Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, an al-Qaeda affiliate.
Mustapha Alhassan, a Nigerian security analyst, described the US narrative around the strikes as politically expedient.
“Nigerians would welcome the help if it was hitting precise targets,” he said. “But that doesn’t seem to be what is happening. All of this is to what end?”
In October, Trump designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern” under the US International Religious Freedom Act, a label applied to countries accused of serious violations of religious freedom.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has rejected the classification, insisting that “the characterization of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians.”
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has cut the annual refugee admissions ceiling from 125,000 to 7,500 and introduced policies that explicitly prioritise Afrikaners from South Africa for resettlement.
Refugee groups said the changes mark a departure from humanitarian-based refugee policy and instead reflect ideological considerations.
In addition, Nigeria has been added to a list of countries facing broad visa restrictions, including bans on immigrant visas and tourist, student and exchange visitor visas.
US officials are “using the language of security to justify blanket exclusions that punish entire populations, rather than utilizing individualized, evidence-based screening,” Global Refuge president Krish O’Mara Vignarajah said earlier this month in response to the expanded travel ban.
“Security is essential, but it demands precision,” Vignarajah added. “Blanket bans only serve to weaken our system by replacing careful vetting with collective punishment.”
