A coalition of 95 Nigerian civil society organizations (CSOs) has sharply criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the nation’s security leadership over an alleged United States airstrike carried out on Nigerian territory on Christmas Day, accusing the government of silence, lack of transparency, and a failure to uphold constitutional responsibilities.
In a joint press statement issued on December 29, 2025, under the banner Nigerian Joint Civil Society Action, the groups said they were expressing “grave concern and deep alarm over the recent U.S. air strike carried out on Christmas Day on Nigerian territory, and the troubling silence, absence, and abdication of responsibility by Nigeria’s political and military leadership in its aftermath.”
The CSOs questioned the whereabouts and role of the President following the reported operation, asking pointedly: “Where is Nigeria’s President?” They argued that the incident highlights “a dual crisis of leadership and security,” adding that “at the heart of this crisis is the apparent abdication by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, of his constitutional role as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.”
According to the statement, by allegedly inviting a foreign power to manage an internal security challenge, the President “ceded sovereign authority in a manner that undermines Nigeria’s constitutional order.” The coalition further described it as “even more disturbing” that during and after the operation, “the President, the Service Chiefs, and the leadership of the National Assembly were either on vacation or completely silent,” leaving the Minister of Foreign Affairs to explain decisions that “strike at the core of national sovereignty and democratic accountability.”
The groups said this silence “reflects a profound breakdown of institutional accountability mechanisms,” and cited Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution, stressing that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.” They insisted that “any security action, especially one involving foreign military forces, must be grounded in transparency, civilian protection, and democratic oversight,” standards they said “were not met.”
While acknowledging the importance of international counterterrorism cooperation, the CSOs called for a review of Nigeria’s counterterrorism frameworks, warning that the reported operation may have “expose[d] significant gaps” in existing strategies and policies.
They also condemned what they described as a “severe deficit of information regarding the nature, scope, legal basis, and rules of engagement governing the collaboration between the Nigerian and U.S. governments.” The statement noted that Nigerians have not been told “on what basis the strikes were authorized, under what legal framework they were conducted, what safeguards were in place to protect civilians, or whether the National Assembly exercised any oversight.”
Raising alarm over possible civilian harm, the coalition said it was troubling that “there has been no confirmation that any actual belligerent targets were hit,” while reports indicated that “debris from expended munitions fell on farmlands in Jabo, Tambuwal Local Government Area of Sokoto State, and in Offa, Kwara State, near the premises of a hotel.”
Although the Nigerian Air Force inaugurated a Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response (CHMR) Board in July 2025, the CSOs said “no publicly articulated civilian harm mitigation protocols have been presented for this offensive.” They argued that “the absence of such frameworks in this operation constitutes a serious governance failure,” and stressed the need for “clear standards for target verification, proportionality assessments, post-strike damage evaluations, and accessible avenues for civilian complaints, investigation, compensation, and redress.”
The groups warned that the government’s handling of the situation could “aggravate narratives that escalate religious and communal tensions in an already fragile national context,” emphasizing that Nigeria’s security challenges “cannot and must not be framed in ways that deepen polarization or stigmatize communities.”
They further demanded that the government address civilian harm, calling for “transparent investigations, public disclosure of findings, prompt assistance to affected communities, and adequate compensation where harm has occurred,” warning that failure to do so would deepen the public trust deficit.
In one of its strongest passages, the coalition said that if the President and security leadership have concluded that they lack the capacity to manage Nigeria’s internal security within constitutional bounds and would rather cede that authority to a foreign power, then “constitutional responsibility and democratic integrity demand that they resign.”
The statement concluded with a firm reminder that “Nigerians deserve accountable leadership and security rooted in sovereignty, the rule of law, and respect for human life.”
The press statement was signed by 95 organizations and civic leaders, including Amnesty International Nigeria, BudgIT, CLEEN Foundation, Yiaga Africa, Media Rights Agenda, Global Rights, and several community-based and human rights groups from across the country.
