US strikes on IS targets in Nigeria may only fan the flames of insurgent violence | Onyedikachi Madueke

The public is looking for relief from terrorism and violence. But Donald Trump's words bolster narratives of foreign crusader' aggression

The response of Nigerians to the airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) targets in Sokoto state, north-western Nigeria are complicated. The rationale behind them has been widely opposed, but the strikes themselves have been welcomed.

The airstrikes were framed as a response to what have been described as genocidal attacks on Christians in the country. But the Nigerian authorities have consistently rejected this narrative, arguing that armed groups in the country do not discriminate based on religion, and that Christians and Muslims largely coexist peacefully. Ironically, it was Trump's redesignation of Nigeria as a country of particular concern" in November that deepened Muslim-Christian tensions. Many northerners, who are predominantly Muslim, blamed southern Nigerians for championing a narrative that ultimately resulted in US sanctions and international stigma.

Onyedikachi Madueke is a security analyst at the University of Aberdeen