Their frustration with this gets expressed through a fascistic Islamism, with appeals to the Golden Age of the independent Sokoto Caliphate (hence the name of the Nigerian state).

Insurgent movements like this are a bit problem for States in the region, and it's part of why AES formed. ECOWAS was largely incapable of dealing with internal security issues, due to its main role as a mechanism of Imperialist value extraction

[–] davel@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 hour ago

I don’t know what exactly is going on there right now, but among the possibilities I can think of, perhaps these are Salafi Jihadists who got pushed out of Niger and went over the border. That’s one of the least nefarious reasons the US might be attacking.