Security expert say most of the US air strikes in Nigeria missed their intended targets

SECURITY experts have revealed that yesterday's air strikes against Islamist militants in Nigeria by the US War Department missed most of their targets despite President Donald Trump describing them as powerful and very deadly.

Last month, President Donald Trump declared that he has asked his generals to draw up plans regarding how to attack Nigeria in response to the incessant attacks on Christians by Islamic terrorists. He accused the Nigerian government of not doing enough to address the situation, standing by as Christians were being massacred across the north of the country.

Nigeria is currently suffering from the effects of chronic insecurity as Boko Haram, the Islamic State of the West African Province (Iswap), armed bandits and kidnappers have turned large swathes of the north of the country into no-go areas. Yesterday, the US carried through the plan, with air strikes against suspected terrorist camps in Sokoto and Zamfara states.

However, according to Brant Phillip, a security expert in the West African sub-region, most of the individuals and groups targeted were missed. Quoting a private source, Mr Phillip revealed that the Christmas Day air strikes in Sokoto could be the beginning of many more, with further raids expected to follow.

He added:  “Several strikes were launched but most of the individuals and groups targeted were missed and the actual damage inflicted remains mostly unknown. This was likely a symbolic start to official US operations in Nigeria, which began on Christmas Day.

"The operational results of the strikes are not significant but much is expected soon, not only in the northwest but in the northeast as well. The coming strikes are also expected to be carried out by an American UAV, probably an MQ-9 Reaper drone.”

According to the Nigerian foreign ministry, the federal government claimed to have provided the intelligence that led to the attack. Meanwhile, community leaders in Benue State have appealed to President Trump to extend the airstrikes to the northeast and north-central geo-political zones to ensure the complete elimination of the terrorist groups.

Iorbee Ihagh, the president of Mzough U Tiv, worldwide, said he had already written a letter to thank President Trump for taking the bold step to end the Christian genocide in Nigeria. He added that in the past, he had appealed to the US president to step in and help put an end to the killings in the country.

Mr Ihagh said: "It is a welcome development. All we are urging the American president is that the strikes should be sustained and should be decisive.

“We also urge that it should be extended to the northeast and the north-central or Middle Belt, where we have suffered unimaginable attacks and killings by these terrorist groups. Benue State in particular has suffered unimaginable level of killings forcing hundreds of thousands of our people into internally displaced persons camps.”