Nigerian President Bola Tinubu deployed an army battalion after suspected jihadist fighters killed 170 people, the latest sign of spiraling violence in Africa’s most populous nation.
Though Abuja claims to be ramping up its campaign against radical militias, hundreds of people have been killed or kidnapped so far this year, underscoring the lawlessness that pervades swaths of the country.
Meanwhile Washington has increased its scrutiny of Nigerian authorities, accusing them of doing little to protect the country’s Christian population. Last year US forces struck what they described as a jihadist cell in Nigeria, and this week Washington dispatched a small team of troops to the country. Experts fear the security crisis could soon metastasize beyond Nigeria’s borders.