On the face of it, the Christmas Day attack by U.S. forces against alleged ISIS bases in northwestern Nigeria’s Sokoto state was the fulfillment of recent promises made by President Donald J. Trump to intervene to stop Christian genocide.

An “initial assessment” by the U.S. Africa Command, a unit of the Department of War, was “that multiple ISIS terrorists were killed in the ISIS camps.”

Gen. Dagvin Anderson, commander, U.S. Africa Command said the unit, “is working with Nigerian and regional partners to increase counterterrorism cooperation efforts related to on-going violence and threats against innocent lives.”

And in a Christmas nighttime post on the Truth Social platform, President Donald J. Trump said, “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, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!”

He added, “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. The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing.”

However, follow-up news reports on Friday indicated no one died in the bombing. A report in the Financial Times said the region is plagued more by bandits than Islamic militias who tend to terrorize states further to the east.

Thus, the attack may have been more a shot across the bow, according to a PBS interview with J. Peter Pham, the U.S. special envoy to the Sahel region during the first Trump administration. The places hit by U.S. military, he said, were not where genocide against Christians is taking place.

“It’s not these bandits in the northwest who are traditionally killing Christians. We see that more in the northeast and the central area of Nigeria,” he told PBS. “I can’t speak to why the targeting occurred in Sokoto. Certainly, it’s a mystery to me. There are a couple other places I would have picked to hit extremists in Nigeria.”

The attacks were coordinated with the government of Nigeria, which framed the move as an anti-terrorism effort while deflecting attention from any religious aspect.

“We have been working closely with the Americans,” Nigerian foreign minister Yusuf Tuggar told Channels Television. “This is what we’ve always been hoping for, to work with the Americans, to work with other countries, to combat terrorism, to stop the death of innocent Nigerians … It’s a collaborative effort.”

Britain’s Guardian newspaper quoted Tuggar’s broadcast comment that the American attacks were “a new phase of an old conflict. For us it is something that is ongoing.”

The mixed messaging was apparent the Friday following Christmas when the British-based network Sky News did man-on-the-street interviews about the air strikes in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city. The network ran a headline suggesting Nigerians were against the strikes, which brought plenty of irate responses from Nigerians on X.

“You guys gave mic to some nitwits in the Street who prolly have never lost a close relative to terrorism,” said one commentator named Veratti. “Get to Plateau or Benue or Borno State where people have experienced terrorism and ethnic cleansing firsthand, then, come back here let’s talk.”

“Nigeria needs Trump,” wrote one Kayode Abimbola, who identified himself as a member of the Yoruba tribe. “The Middle Belt and Southern Nigeria need Trump to deliver them from terrorist elements marching down from the Shari’a Northern Nigeria.”

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, writing on X, echoed Trump’s previous sentiments: “The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end. The @DeptofWar is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight — on Christmas. More to come…”

Rep. Riley M. Moore, West Virginia Republican, posted on X after the airstrike was disclosed that “President Trump has been clear that the killing of Christians in Nigeria must end. As I stated at the outset: Do not test President Trump’s (resolve) in this matter. Tonight’s strike in coordination with the Nigerian government is just the first step to ending the slaughter of Christians and the security crisis affecting all Nigerians.”

Rep. Moore earlier noted that Nigerian officials released Nigerian farmer Sunday Jackson, a Christian who was sentenced to death after he killed a Fulani Islamic radical in self-defense after Jackson’s home was attacked.

“After more than a decade in prison serving a death sentence for defending himself, Sunday Jackson has been pardoned,” Moore said in a statement. He added, “The Nigerian government at the Federal and State level must ensure Sunday’s safety during and following his release.”

The attacks came nearly two months after the President reinstated Nigeria’s designation as a “Country of Particular Concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act. This means greater scrutiny for the country’s progress on religious freedom.

It also followed by five weeks the kidnapping of more than 300 Nigerian Christian students and faculty in the northwestern region. While 50 victims escaped initially, word came just before Christmas that all the kidnapped students and faculty from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger state, were recovered alive.

Despite Nigeria’s insistence that it is working to combat violence, outside observers say the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been ineffective at best.

In July, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said, “Despite efforts to reduce violence by nonstate actors, the government is often unable to prevent or slow to react to violent attacks by Fulani herders, bandit gangs, and insurgent entities such as JAS/Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).”

Concerns about Fulani-linked violence persisted after the Christmas Day airstrikes.

“I’m grateful (President Trump’s) taking action, but if he is serious about saving Christians, he needs to go after the right enemy and that’s the Fulani ethnic militia,” Judd Saul, founder of TruthNigeria.com, an evangelical outreach, warned in a Friday statement.

Also on Friday, the Baptist Press news service said the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy arm supported the military exercise.

Miles Mullin, chief of staff at the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission told the news service, “We were grateful for President Trump’s action to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) last month. We are encouraged by the Nigerian government’s willingness to take action. We are hopeful that these joint exercises will have their intended effect of mitigating persecution in the area.”

Mullin added, “Southern Baptists have a special affinity for other Christians around the world, especially those suffering persecution and martyrdom – something that has been happening in northern Nigeria for far too long.”

Global Christian Relief, one of the foremost agencies sounding the alarm about persecution of Christians in Nigeria, also approved the Christmas Day strike.

“This strike marks the first tangible action to protect Nigerian Christians on behalf of the U.S., and we commend the coordination between the U.S. and the Nigerian government,” CEO Brian Orme said. “We hope it signals meaningful support for Christians and other civilians in danger, and that it leads to sustained protection and long-term support for families now living as internally displaced people, so communities can rebuild, return home, and live without fear of extremist violence.”

Julia Duin contributed to this report.

Mark A. Kellner is a reporter based in Mesquite, Nevada. He most recently covered statewide elections for the New York Post and was for three years the Faith & Family Reporter for The Washington Times. Mark is a graduate of the University of the Cumberlands and also attended Boston University’s College of Communication.