Executive Summary: More political theatrics to appeal to Trump’s MAGA base. IMHO, the actual objective is access to oil and rare earth minerals to prevent China from getting them. If Christians’ lives are being saved, it’s an unintended consequence.

WaPo reports that despite Nigeria having largely Muslim populations in the north and Christian populations in the South, the US air attack occurred on precision targets in Sokoto state, which borders Niger in Nigeria’s northwestern reaches. Sokoto state is described as a recent “hot spot for a resurgence in violent extremism and the kidnapping of schoolchildren.” ¹

The Nigerian Foreign Ministry acknowledged coordination with the U.S., carefully underscoring that terrorist violence was an affront to the country’s values regardless of religious practices.

In a previous essay, I reported that Nigeria is sitting on an estimated U.S. $700BB in mineral wealth, and intended to begin mining it this year — anticipating the new mining operations would allow the nation to boost that sector’s contribution to GDP tenfold. ² And oil? Nigeria is the largest oil producer on the continent. ³

By the way, Sokoto State borders Kebbi to its southwest. Kebbi, and its neighbors Kaduna and Niger are all known to have rare earth mineral deposits. Those four states comprise the majority of the northwestern quarter of Nigeria. ⁴

Mr. Trump isn’t doing this out of the kindness of his heart. He’s likely made it clear the U.S. wants a cut of the goods for clearing off Boko Haram and other baddies. He’s probably doing himself as much of a favor as he is Abuja. You know, “America First” and all that.

And by the way, would it entirely shock me that Boko Haram is taking a page out of the FARC playbook and providing security for illicit mining operations, backed by the Chinese?

— Not really: Boko Haram skims hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars’ worth of gold and other precious materials and converts them into fuel for sustaining its illicit operations and for continued erosion of Nigeria’s legitimate government. ^{5, 6}

¹ Arnsdorf, I., Copp, T., & Chason, R. (2025, December 25). U.S. strikes ISIS in Nigeria after Trump warnings on Christian killings. The Washington Post. Retrieved December 25, 2025, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/12/25/trump-bombing-nigeria-isis/

² Misadventuresofme. (2025, December 14). Another Thought on U.S. Aggression: Bigger than Drugs, Bigger than Oil. The Misadventures of Me. https://misadventuresofme.wordpress.com/2025/12/14/another-thought-on-u-s-aggression-bigger-than-drugs-bigger-than-oil/

³ Misadventuresofme. (2025, November 29). A Thought on U.S. Aggression. The Misadventures of Me. https://misadventuresofme.wordpress.com/2025/11/29/a-thought-on-u-s-aggression/

⁴ Wikipedia contributors. (2025, December 4). States of Nigeria. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_of_Nigeria

⁵ Boko Haram’s illicit trade in gold and other resources | African Security Analysis. (n.d.). https://www.africansecurityanalysis.com/reports/boko-haram-s-illicit-trade-in-gold-and-other-resources

⁶ While China is not mentioned specifically in the African Security Analysis report, it does state that Boko Haram does employ foreign intermediaries who connect international buyers to their goods. Given China’s enormous appetite for rare earth minerals to sustain their market dominance, China is likely among the buyers.