Nearly one month after the United States carried out airstrikes on Christmas Day 2025 in northwestern Nigeria, crucial questions stay unanswered. There has been no official affirmation of the strike’s exact location, its meant targets, or the variety of civilians killed. The absence of clear communication has deepened public anxiousness and uncovered longstanding weaknesses in Nigeria’s safety governance and accountability methods.
These issues shaped the main focus of a digital coverage dialogue convened on January 21, 2026, by The Africa Disruptions Lab (TADLab) and Conflict Research Network West Africa (CORN West Africa). The dialogue—the second in a unbroken sequence—examined what has modified because the strike, what stays unresolved, and what the silence of establishments indicators for Nigeria’s sovereignty, civilian safety, and democratic accountability.
Held beneath the theme “The Christmas Day Reckoning: Tracking Justice and Change Since the U.S. Airstrikes in Nigeria,” the dialogue introduced collectively main students and practitioners in human rights, governance, and safety.
No Post-Strike Assessment, No Accountability
A central concern raised in the course of the dialogue was the absence of a clear, impartial, and publicly accessible post-airstrike evaluation.
Nearly a month after the operation, there was no authoritative affirmation of the variety of alleged terrorists neutralised, no verified civilian casualty figures, and no public harm evaluation.
According to contributors, this lack of readability undermines humanitarian accountability and violates fundamental ideas of civilian safety and democratic oversight.
Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, Professor of Practice in International Human Rights Law at Tufts University and former Chairman of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission, pointed to reviews suggesting that particles from the strike was present in Kebbi, Sokoto, and Niger States.
“There are reports of debris in Kebbi State, Sokoto State, and Niger State—and none of the governors has said a word,” Odinkalu mentioned.
He cited a report by The New Humanitarian indicating that as much as 200 unarmed civilians could have been killed, noting that the failure to research or publicly make clear these claims deepens distrust.
“The silence around this strike—from state governors, state assemblies, federal lawmakers, and even citizens—creates the conditions for impunity,” he mentioned.
Odinkalu was significantly crucial of presidential inaction, arguing that the failure of the commander-in-chief to handle the incident publicly indicators a troubling disregard for accountability.
*Institutional Silence Across All Levels*
Beyond the presidency, the dialogue highlighted a broad sample of silence throughout establishments constitutionally accountable for oversight and accountability. These embrace the National Assembly, the Nigerian army and police, opposition events, main civil society organisations, the media, and regional our bodies corresponding to ECOWAS and the African Union.
“The strike occurred on the territory of an ECOWAS member state,” Odinkalu famous. “Yet ECOWAS has said absolutely nothing. That silence reflects weakness and a loss of relevance.”
On her half, Mojubaolu Olufunke Okome, a Professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, and Chairpersom of TADLab, reiterated the priority.
“The institutions charged with protecting Nigerians have demonstrated—through their silence—that they are unwilling to act in the public interest,” she mentioned.
Okome additionally noticed that the United States has not carried out a clear congressional listening to or public investigation into the strike. She highlighted the dearth of accountability on the worldwide stage.
*Security Architecture Under Scrutiny*
Uncertainty in regards to the strike’s location and influence has raised deeper issues about Nigeria’s army structure, intelligence administration, and safety governance.
Participants famous that claims of precision focusing on and in depth intelligence sharing are contradicted by inconsistent official narratives and the absence of authoritative briefings.
“There are indications within Nigeria’s security sector that the epicenter of the strike may have been in the Niger Republic,” Odinkalu mentioned., including that, “what Nigeria experienced may, in fact, have been debris.”
Okome added that even official supplies launched by those that carried out the strike have been riddled with errors.
“They misspelled Sokoto. No damage assessments have been conducted, or at least none have been made public,” she mentioned.
*Politicising Insecurity, Silencing Dissent*
The dialogue additionally examined how expressions of public concern are more and more framed as partisan assaults, discouraging civic engagement and shielding governance failures from scrutiny.
Odinkalu contrasted the federal government’s silence on the airstrikes with its responsiveness to elite tragedies.
“The President issued condolences when a public figure had an accident, and again over a personal loss suffered by a prominent writer,” he mentioned.
“Yet one of the most consequential incidents affecting ordinary Nigerians has gone unacknowledged,” the human rights lawyer and scholar, added.
Okome, reinforcing the issues, warned towards what she described as misplaced celebrations of international army intervention.
“The idea that external actors will save Nigerians is a dangerous illusion,” she mentioned. “Security and freedom only emerge when local, regional, and foreign powers are held accountable to their social contracts.”
*Media, Civil Society, and Civic Apathy*
Participants underscored the significance of media and civil society as defenders of public reality, whereas noting restricted home and worldwide protection of the strike.
“There has been extensive global coverage of events elsewhere,” Okome noticed, “but remarkably little serious engagement in the American press on what happened in Nigeria.”
Odinkalu described the Nigerian media setting as more and more hostile, citing state actions that limit press freedom and discourage investigative journalism.
“The appeal by the federal government against a court ruling ordering investigation into the killing of journalists is telling,” he mentioned. “It reflects a deep institutional disconnect and lack of empathy.”
*A Fractured Civic Response*
The muted public response to the airstrikes, contributors argued, displays Nigeria’s fragmented nationwide id and the erosion of shared civic values.
“You would expect national outrage,” Okome mentioned. “But Nigerians remain largely silent. If nobody else cares, we must care.”
Odinkalu contextualised this response traditionally, arguing that Nigeria’s weak nationwide cohesion has lengthy been exploited by political elites to forestall collective mobilisation towards injustice.
The dialogue concluded that the Christmas Day airstrikes characterize greater than a safety incident. They represent a crucial check of Nigeria’s governance, accountability, and civic consciousness.
Without clear investigations, institutional accountability, sustained media scrutiny, and lively civic engagement, contributors warned, silence dangers changing into coverage—and impunity, the norm.
END
*Jointly signed:*
*Shakirudeen Bankole*
Communications Consultant
Conflict Research Network
(CORN West Africa)
08033847701
guidearight@gmail.com
*Amsale Alemu*
Communications Officer
The African Disruption Lab (TADLab)
