Attacks in Niger State Follow U.S. Missile Strikes, While Kidnappings Spread in Southwest Nigeria
A series of violent incidents across Nigeria, including killings in Niger State and a rise in kidnappings in the Southwest, occurred after U.S. missile strikes on December 24 targeting Islamic militants.
On Jan. 3, militants attacked Kasuwa Daji village in the Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State, killing dozens of people, according to a report by brnow.org. The Nigerian government attributed the killings to “terrorists suspected to be fleeing from Sokoto and Zamfara following the United States’ airstrikes on Christmas Eve,” as reported by the New York Times.
Allafrica reported that kidnappings and attacks are spreading across highways, rural communities and forest corridors in the South‑West, a shift from earlier periods when terrorism, banditry and mass abductions were largely associated with other parts of Nigeria.
Brnow.org documented that militants have killed at least 58 individuals in Christian villages in northeastern and northcentral Nigeria since Christmas and also kidnapped others from a Catholic boarding school.
According to brnow.org, the attacks on Dec. 29 and Jan. 3 followed U.S. launches of more than 16 Tomahawk missiles on targets in northwest Nigeria on Dec. 24. The United States said the missiles were aimed at Islamic terrorists who have targeted Christians there.
Brnow.org also noted that the full impact of the U.S. strikes on Christmas Eve has not been reported.
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