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The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has said Nigeria provided the intelligence that led to the United States’ airstrike on terrorist targets in the country and formally approved the operation before it was carried out.
According to Punch News, Tuggar disclosed this on Friday while speaking on Channels Television.
The minister said the operation was the outcome of ongoing security cooperation between Nigeria and the United States and was not motivated by religious considerations.
He said, “It’s Nigeria that provided the intelligence. I was on the phone yesterday for 19 minutes with Secretary of State Marco Rubio of the United States. We spoke extensively, and we agreed that I was going to speak with President Tinubu for President Tinubu to give the go-ahead.
“And I did speak with him, and it was agreed also that the statements that would follow would be statements that would show clearly that it is a strike against terrorism and that it is part of the ongoing joint operations between Nigeria and the collaboration between Nigeria and the United States.”
Tuggar said Nigeria had long sought deeper collaboration with the United States and other countries to combat terrorism, describing the strike as a vindication of the Tinubu administration’s security strategy.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
The minister stated that Nigeria had consistently maintained its approach of collaborating with all partners committed to fighting terrorism, regardless of religion, the identity of the victims, whether Muslim or Christian, or the type of terrorism involved, including religiously motivated attacks or banditry.
He also said that for those who believed the government was not doing enough, the operation clearly demonstrated Nigeria’s commitment and readiness to work with all countries.
He stressed that the operation was not related to religion, emphasising that its sole purpose was to protect innocent lives, whether Nigerian or foreign.
He further explained that the authorities had communicated twice with the relevant parties, speaking for 19 minutes before the strike and again for another five minutes before its execution, to make this clear.
Months before the strike, US President Donald Trump had warned that Washington might take action against terrorist groups operating in Nigeria, citing repeated attacks and what he described as violence targeting Christian communities.
His remarks drew mixed reactions in Nigeria, with officials emphasising that insecurity in the country was not religiously motivated and that both Muslims and Christians had been victims of terrorism and banditry.
Nigeria has long faced multiple security threats, including insurgency by Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province in the North-East, as well as banditry and terror attacks across the North-West, resulting in thousands of deaths and widespread displacement.
