US Airstrikes on Nigerian Soil

On Christmas night 2025, the United States launched 16 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the USS Paul Ignatius in the Gulf of Guinea at two Islamic State-linked Lakurawa camps in Bauni Forest, Sokoto State. An estimated 155 militants were killed, though four of the missiles malfunctioned, with unexploded ordnance landing in villages hundreds of miles from the targets.

President Tinubu had given prior approval for the operation, but faced criticism both for allowing foreign military strikes on Nigerian soil and for his silence in the aftermath. The strikes, ordered by US President Donald Trump and carried out by US Africa Command (AFRICOM), marked the first known direct American military action on Nigerian territory.