Wary of the continued warning by the United States (U.S.) to undertake a swift bombardment of terrorist enclaves in the country, some foreign herders have begun to leave Nigerian territorial boundaries with their herd of cattle.

Checks by The Guardian revealed that in Gurin, a border town in the Fufore Local Government Area of Adamawa State, residents reported movement of herders from Nigeria to neighbouring Cameroon.

This is just as the Federal Government has called on the citizens not to panic, assuring that it is not only responding decisively and responsibly to recent security concerns, but also doubling efforts to contain terrorism and protect citizens’ constitutional rights.

President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday in Abuja, stated that Nigeria remains on a steady growth trajectory, with more promise of stability and prosperity as economic reforms continue to yield results and gain national and international acceptance.

“Do we have problems? Yes. Are we challenged by terrorism? Yes. But we will defeat terrorism. We will overcome the CPC designation. Nigeria is one happy family, and we shall spare no effort until we eliminate all criminals from our society. We want our friends to help us as we step up our fight against terrorism, and we will eliminate it,” President Tinubu assured.

On the current state of the economy and the relationship between Nigeria and the United States, President Tinubu assured that the Federal Government was engaging with the world diplomatically. “The most important thing is the fact that despite the political headwinds and the fear of our people, we will continue to engage with partners.

Also, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, while speaking to journalists after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja, said the government remained firmly committed to ensuring that every Nigerian is safe.

He stressed that the right to freedom of worship, guaranteed under the Constitution, would continue to be upheld without fear or intimidation, noting that cases of violent extremism persist in parts of the country, but maintained that security agencies are actively addressing the situation in partnership with regional and international allies.

The Minister disclosed that the Federal Government is working closely with neighbouring countries and partners such as the United States to curb terrorism, secure porous borders and bolster intelligence-sharing.

While insisting that the President Bola Tinubu-led administration will continue to strengthen law-enforcement capacity and reinforce directives to security agencies to maintain order nationwide, Idris declared: “Whatever concerns there are, the Government of Nigeria will take care of them.”

The Information Minister spoke against the background of renewed efforts by the United States to carry out President Donald Trump’s desire to carry out pre-emptive strikes against terrorists and fundamentalists, who he claimed were prosecuting a religious war against Nigerian Christians.

It was gathered that the Pentagon, the U.S. Department of War, has already forwarded a sketch for possible strikes on identified Terrorist Targets within the country, even as sources said that under the plan, the U.S. Air Force may hit some compounds housing militant groups.

According to the report, U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) has submitted several options to the Department of War, responding to a request from Secretary Pete Hegseth for operational plans in line with Trump’s directive. Military officials said that the proposals, labelled “heavy,” “medium,” and “light”, outline different levels of potential engagement in Nigeria.

The “heavy option,” the officials said, would represent the most aggressive U.S. action: deploying an aircraft carrier strike group to the Gulf of Guinea and launching fighter jets or long-range bombers to hit militant targets deep inside northern Nigeria.

The “medium option” involves targeted drone strikes using MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-1 Predator drones against known militant camps, convoys, and vehicles. These drones, capable of loitering for hours, would be supported by U.S. intelligence assets tracking insurgents’ movements to enable “precise and timely” attacks, the report added.

The “light option,” however, focuses on supporting Nigerian forces through intelligence sharing and logistics while enabling joint operations against Boko Haram and other Islamist groups accused of mass killings, abductions, and church attacks.

To drive home its seriousness over the impending onslaught, the House of Representatives, yesterday, introduced a bill that proposes a set of sanctions targeting persons and organisations the lawmakers said are behind violence against members of other religious persuasions.

A section of the bill listed the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore as targets for possible visa bans and asset freezes against their members.

For long, some stakeholders held the view that the menace of cattle herders was compounded by the influx of breeders from outside the country that enjoyed the ECOWAS protocol on free movement of persons and goods across member states.