By F

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump warned he could take military action against Nigeria over alleged religious persecution and terrorism concerns after designating the country a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC). The remarks — seen by many in Nigeria as provocative and neo-imperial — sparked panic, widespread reaction at home and abroad, and a diplomatic row between Abuja and Washington.

Authorities in Nigeria, however, say they are not taking the threat lightly. According to posts on the Nigerian Army’s official Facebook page and a DAILY POST review, security agencies have intensified counterterrorism and anti-bandit operations nationwide, mounting sustained offensives against militant hideouts.

Highlights of recent military operations:

• Kidnap plot foiled in Benue; 10 rescued
  Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) disrupted a kidnap ring on November 3, 2025, along the Zaki-Biam–Wukari road in Benue State, rescuing ten victims. The kidnappers — reportedly dressed in police uniforms and operating a fake checkpoint — had abducted travelers. Among those freed was Warrant Officer John Richard of the 6 Brigade Band, Jalingo. Two victims remain missing as searches continue.
• Borno base fends off drone, mortar attack; six insurgents killed
  Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) forces repelled a coordinated Boko Haram/ISWAP assault on Forward Operating Base (FOB) Kangar in Mallam Fatori, Borno State, during the early hours of Tuesday. The attackers used armed drones and mortars, but troops reinforced by Sector 3 and supported by Nigerien fighter aircraft contained the assault. Six insurgents were neutralised and weapons, drone bombs, ammunition, and grenades were recovered.
• Kano bandit attack repelled; 19 attackers killed
  Nigerian Army troops thwarted a bandit incursion in Shanono Local Government Area, Kano State, killing 19 assailants after a heavy firefight on November 1, 2025. The attackers, who arrived on motorcycles, were forced to retreat. Two soldiers and one local vigilante were killed; several motorcycles and mobile phones were recovered.
• Kogi rescue: two freed, N3.8m ransom recovered
  12 Brigade troops rescued two kidnap victims and recovered N3.8 million in ransom during a clearance operation along the Itobe–Adumu–Ejule axis on November 2, 2025. The soldiers exchanged fire with the abductors near Achigili Forest, forcing them to abandon the captives and flee with gunshot wounds.
• Multiple operations across the northeast neutralize insurgents
  Between October 25 and 31, 2025, OPHK reported crushing several terror attacks in Borno and Adamawa States, neutralising fighters in Kukawa, Gwoza and Limankara, destroying a vehicle-borne explosive device in Kukawa, and intercepting smuggled fuel and weapons in Adamawa. Five suspected collaborators were arrested during a cordon-and-search in Madagali LGA.
• Nationwide raids: 17 rescued, 20 suspects arrested
  On November 2, 2025, the Army said simultaneous raids across the North East, North West, North Central and South-South resulted in 17 rescued abductees, 20 arrests and the neutralisation of multiple terrorists. In Zamfara, 1 Brigade freed 11 abducted people; Operation Whirl Stroke and Operation Enduring Peace arrested 15 suspects and rescued four victims in Benue and Plateau. Troops in Bayelsa and Imo dismantled illegal oil-refining camps and recovered stolen crude and equipment.
• Makurdi cultists’ den raided; seven arrested
  On October 30, 2025, OPWS raided a suspected cultist hideout in Makurdi’s North Bank area, arresting seven suspects and seizing two locally made pistols, a cartridge, a laptop, ammunition shells and bags of charms. The suspects are in custody awaiting prosecution.

Commenting on the broader violence, John Usanga, deputy spokesperson for the League of African Ambassadors, urged a shift away from exclusively religious or ethnic explanations for killings. Speaking on Arise Television, Usanga warned that the conflict also involves tactical seizures of land and forced displacement. He described the campaign against terrorists and bandits as a guerrilla-style conflict that eludes conventional military responses, noting perpetrators strike quickly and blend into civilian populations.

“It should be of concern to all parties that people are being killed,” Usanga said. “We are looking at the religious angle and the ethnicity angle, but we are forgetting that this thing is also indicative of people taking territories, dislodging people from their lands and taking over their lands. So we should focus more on what is not too obvious than what would divide us… The fight against terrorism and banditry is not a regular war. These people mingle with the general population.”

Usanga cautioned about the potential collateral damage of broad military responses and implied skepticism about external proposals that could worsen civilian harm.