The organisations questioned the silence and absence of the country’s political and military leadership in the aftermath.
The Amnesty International Nigeria, and a coalition of civil society organisations under the platform of Nigerian Joint Civil Society Action has raised “grave concern and deep alarm” over the U.S. air strike carried out on Christmas Day on Nigerian territory.
The organisations questioned the silence and absence of the country’s political and military leadership in the aftermath.
In a joint press statement released on Monday, and titled “Where is the President?”, the organisations said the incident “raises fundamental questions about sovereignty, constitutional governance, civilian protection, and the integrity of Nigeria’s social contract.”
The statement was jointly signed by a wide range of civil society organisations and leaders, including 21st Century Community Empowerment for Youth and Women Initiative; Abubakar Mohammed; Accountability Lab Nigeria; ACE-Nigeria; Advocacy Centre for Development; African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL); African Law Foundation (AFRILAW); Alliances for Africa (AFA); Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 and Beyond (ASCAB); Amnesty International Nigeria; Baobab for Women’s Human Rights; Bauchi Human Rights Network; BENDEF; BOCODEP; BudgIT; Bwatiye Community Development Association; Cedar Seed Foundation; CEE-HOPE; Centre for Community Excellence (CENCEX); Centre for Social Justice; Centre LSD; CISLAC.
Others include Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD); Center for Transparency Advocacy; Chidi Anselm Odinkalu; Citizens Advocacy for Social & Economic Rights (CASER); Clean Technology Hub; CLEEN Foundation; Community Life Project (CLP); Community Outreach for Development and Welfare Advocacy (CODWA); Companions for the Development of Jibia Local Government Area; Connected Advocacy; Conscience for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR); Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA); Digicivic Initiative; Disabled People in Leadership Initiative and Network of Women with Disabilities; Dorothy Njemanze Foundation (DNF); Enough Is Enough; F.S.A.F.C.I; FEMBUD; FENRAD; Gatefield; Gender Relevance Initiative Promotion; Global Rights; Grassroots Development Centre; HEDA; HOMEF; Human Rights Network Jigawa; Initiative for Social Development; Keen and Care Initiative (KCI); Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre; Koyenum Immalah Foundation; Life and Peace Development Organisation; Media Rights Agenda.
Also included are; Mowalek Centre for Sustainable Community Development; Neighbourhood Environment Watch Foundation; Nextier SPD (Security, Peace and Development); Network of University Legal Aid Institutions (NULAI); Online Hub NG; OrderPaper Advocacy Initiative; Organization for Community Civic Engagement (OCCEN); Partners West Africa Nigeria (PWAN); Partnership for Justice and Network of Nigerian Human Rights Defenders; Policy Alert; PRAWA International; Praxis Center; Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Nigeria; Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC); SBM Intelligence; Sesor Empowerment Initiative to Sesor Empowerment Foundation; SIPJAD; Social Action; Socio-Economic Research and Development Centre; Sokoto Youth Council; South Saharan Social Development Organisation; Stephanie Peacebuilding and Development Foundation (SPADEV); Support Initiative for Sustainable Development; Tap Initiative; TechHerNG; The Kukah Centre; The Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED); Urban Alert; We The People; West African Drug Policy Network (WADPN); Woman in Media Communication Initiative (WIM); Women in Mining Nigeria (WIMNG); Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA); Yiaga Africa; Yobe Youth Council; and Miideekor Environmental Development Initiative (MEDI).
The groups said it was “apparent that Nigeria is in 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 inviting a foreign government to manage what is fundamentally an internal security challenge, the President ceded sovereign authority in a manner that undermines Nigeria’s constitutional order.” The organisations also 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, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, “to publicly rationalize decisions that strike at the core of national sovereignty and democratic accountability.”
The coalition said the silence reflected “a profound breakdown of institutional accountability mechanisms,” citing Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which states that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.” They stressed that any security action, “especially one involving foreign military forces,” must be grounded in “transparency, civilian protection, and democratic oversight,” adding that “none of these standards were met.”
While acknowledging “the importance of international counterterrorism cooperation,” the groups called for an urgent reassessment of Nigeria’s National Counter Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST) and its Policy Framework and National Action Plan for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, to determine whether the recent U.S. operation aligns with them or “exposes significant gaps within them.”
They also expressed concern over what they described as “the severe deficit of information regarding the nature, scope, legal basis, and rules of engagement governing the collaboration between the Nigerian and U.S. governments.” According to the statement, Nigerians have not been informed “of the basis for authorizing the strikes, under what legal framework they were conducted, what safeguards were in place to protect civilians, whether the National Assembly exercised any oversight, or what accountability mechanisms exist for harm caused.”
The groups warned that such opacity “fuels mistrust and undermines public confidence in government at a time when trust is already dangerously low.”
The statement further noted that, as at the time of issuing it, “there has been no confirmation that any actual belligerent targets were hit.” Instead, it referenced reports 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,” underscoring “the very real risks to civilian life and property.”
Although the Nigerian Air Force inaugurated a “Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response (CHMR) Board” in July 2025, the coalition said “no publicly articulated civilian harm mitigation protocols have been presented for this offensive,” describing the absence of clear standards for target verification, proportionality assessments, post-strike damage evaluations, and civilian redress mechanisms as “a serious governance failure.”
The organisations cautioned that the government’s handling of the situation was “capable of aggravating narratives that escalate religious and communal tensions in an already fragile national context,” insisting that Nigeria’s security challenges “cannot and must not be framed in ways that deepen polarization or stigmatize communities.”
They emphasised the need for “transparent investigations, public disclosure of findings, prompt assistance to affected communities, and adequate compensation where harm has occurred,” warning that without such steps, “the already wide public trust deficit between citizens and the state will continue to deepen.”
In a strongly worded conclusion, the coalition said the continued silence of the President, the Service Chiefs and the National Assembly was “wholly unacceptable,” adding that if Nigeria’s leadership had concluded that it lacked “the capacity or will to manage Nigeria’s internal security challenges within the bounds of the Constitution and would rather cede such authority to a foreign power,” then “constitutional responsibility and democratic integrity demand that they resign.”