Nearly 30,000 people have been killed in violence across Nigeria since President Tinubu took office in 2023. Islamist insurgents, armed bandits, and communal violence are simultaneously overwhelming an overstretched military with no coherent long-term strategy. The crisis escalated internationally when US President Donald Trump, promoting a narrative of targeted anti-Christian violence, ordered airstrikes in northwestern Nigeria. This has led to a controversial new security partnership that places around 100 US military personnel and surveillance drones on Nigerian soil. The partnership favors the US as it grants Washington a meaningful security footprint without formal treaty obligations. However, the opposite is the case for Tinubu’s government, which faces sovereignty questions and risks being seen as subordinate to Washington’s agenda. So far, it also hasn’t addressed the suffering of Northern Nigerians who are experiencing violence daily.
FT
