U.S. Broadens Response to Attacks on Christians in Nigeria, Emphasizes Diplomatic and Security Tools

The U.S. administration is advancing a multi-faceted effort with Nigerian authorities to confront rising violence that has targeted Christian communities — and many others — across the country. Officials say the strategy goes beyond the president’s earlier threats of direct military action and includes diplomacy, targeted assistance, intelligence sharing, and the possibility of sanctions alongside contingency military options.

A comprehensive, multi-tool approach

Senior State Department and Pentagon officials have described a plan that draws on a wide range of instruments. A State Department official said the approach will include assistance programs, intelligence cooperation, diplomatic pressure and, if necessary, targeted sanctions. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met Nigeria’s national security adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and said the Pentagon is "working aggressively with Nigeria to end the persecution of Christians by jihadist terrorists," while urging Nigeria to take both immediate and sustained action to protect civilians.

Jonathan Pratt, head of the State Department's Bureau of African Affairs, told lawmakers that possible military engagement has been discussed at the National Security Council as part of this broader plan. Pratt emphasized that the goal is to use a full toolkit — security cooperation, policing support, economic measures and diplomatic levers — to achieve durable results.

Complex drivers of violence

The security crisis in Nigeria is complicated and multi-dimensional. Islamist militant groups, including Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have carried out deadly attacks that kill both Christians and Muslims. At the same time, violent clashes between mostly Muslim herders and predominantly Christian farmers over land and water have driven communal violence, and criminal banditry motivated by profit has led to widespread kidnappings and ransom-driven attacks.

Recent incidents illustrate this complexity: attackers abducted students from both a Catholic school and a school in a Muslim-majority town within days of each other, and gunmen killed two people and abducted worshippers in an assault on a church. The attacks have drawn international attention from a range of public figures and organizations.

Logistics, regional politics and limits of force

U.S. military capacity in the region has declined in recent years, and any large-scale deployment to Nigeria would likely require repositioning forces from other regions. The withdrawal of U.S. personnel from neighboring Niger and the reduction of Western military footprints in parts of Africa complicate logistics. Possible staging options include long-range support from Djibouti or relying on smaller cooperative security locations in countries such as Ghana and Senegal, but those hubs are typically suited for limited missions rather than a major intervention.

West Africa’s recent political turbulence — a wave of coups and the expulsion of some Western partners — has created diplomatic obstacles to regional cooperation. Analysts say those fractures make it harder to build the coalitions, access and intelligence-sharing arrangements that would be needed to sustain any operations against transnational militants.

Experts warn against short-term military fixes

Security specialists caution that limited military strikes would be unlikely to solve Nigeria’s long-standing security problems. Judd Devermont, senior adviser for Africa at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted that Nigeria’s insecurity has developed over decades and will not be reversed quickly by temporary deployments or a handful of strikes. He and other analysts argue that durable progress will require economic development, improved policing, interfaith initiatives, and close cooperation with Nigerian institutions.

Risks of unilateral intervention

Nigeria’s government has rejected the idea of unilateral foreign military intervention on its soil but has said it welcomes assistance in fighting armed groups. Security researchers warn that deploying foreign troops without a full understanding of local dynamics could endanger personnel and exacerbate instability. Malik Samuel, a security researcher, emphasized that misreading the overlapping causes of farmer-herder conflict, banditry and insurgency could allow violence to spill across borders and produce unintended civilian harm.

Past Nigerian air campaigns have sometimes resulted in civilian casualties from mistaken strikes, underscoring how difficult targeting can be in complex environments where militants, civilians and criminal actors operate in close proximity.

What analysts recommend

Analysts and officials broadly agree that an effective U.S. role would combine careful security cooperation with long-term investments in governance, community reconciliation and economic opportunity. Any meaningful effort would require close coordination with Nigeria’s federal and state governments, credible policing reforms, and partnerships that strengthen local capacity to prevent and respond to violence.

As U.S. policymakers weigh options, they must balance the need to protect vulnerable communities with the diplomatic, logistical and political realities in West Africa. Officials say the aim is to craft a strategy "by, with and through Nigeria" that prioritizes sustainable improvements in security and protection of civilians.