FG calls bombs dropped on Offa, Jabo debris from US strikes during Sokoto bombing
By KEMI KASUMU
The Federal Government has confirmed that debris from precision strikes against Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist enclaves fell in Offa, Kwara State, and Jabo in Sokoto State during a joint military operation with the United States on Friday.
The government said the strikes, which targeted ISIS elements in the Bauni forest axis of Tangaza Local Government Area of Sokoto State, were carried out between 00:12 hours and 01:30 hours on December 26, 2025, with President Bola Tinubu’s approval.
This was contained in a statement on Friday issued by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris.
The DEFENDER had reported earlier how US airstrikes carried out to protect Christians in Nigeria targeted Jabo in Tambuwal Local Government Sokoto State and Offa in Kwara State causing damages to empty farmland and buildings, respectively, communities with no cases of terrorism.
The statement said debris “fell in Jabo, Tambuwal Local Government Area of Sokoto State, and in Offa, Kwara State, near the premises of a hotel.”
The statement assured that “no civilian casualties were recorded in either location, and relevant authorities promptly secured the affected areas.”
‘’The operation, conducted “in close coordination with the Government of the United States of America,” deployed 16 GPS-guided precision munitions using MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial platforms launched from maritime platforms in the Gulf of Guinea,’’ the statement said.
According to the statement, intelligence confirmed that the targeted locations “were being used as assembly and staging grounds by foreign ISIS elements infiltrating Nigeria from the Sahel region, in collaboration with local affiliates, to plan and execute large-scale terrorist attacks within Nigerian territory.”
Recalls that earlier on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the strikes via his Truth Social account.
Trump said the U.S. military targeted terrorists responsible for attacks on Christian communities.
“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians,” Trump wrote.
“I have previously warned these terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was.”
