The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has claimed responsibility for an attack on a Christian community in Adamawa State, northeastern Nigeria, amid renewed concerns over militant violence in the region.
A security analyst, Brant Philip, disclosed on Thursday that the terror group released images purportedly showing a Christian village in Adamawa set ablaze. The images were accompanied by a statement attributed to ISWAP threatening Christian communities in Nigeria.
According to Philip, the group described Christians as legitimate targets and issued threats demanding conversion to Islam or the payment of jizyah, a tax historically imposed on non-Muslims under extremist ideology.
“ISWAP released an image of a Christian village in Adamawa State burning, alongside a statement declaring Christians in Nigeria as legitimate targets,” Philip wrote in a post on X.
The claims have not been independently verified, and Nigerian security authorities have yet to issue an official response at the time of filing this report.
Analysts believe the development may be linked to recent military operations targeting terrorist enclaves. The alleged attack is being viewed as possible retaliation for joint airstrikes carried out by Nigerian and United States forces against militant positions in parts of northern Nigeria.
Five days earlier, United States President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. military had conducted airstrikes against terrorist targets in Sokoto State, in coordination with Nigerian security forces.
Adamawa State has remained one of the areas affected by insurgency in the Northeast, where Boko Haram and its splinter faction, ISWAP, have carried out repeated attacks on civilian communities over the past decade.