The Federal Government has acknowledged that it shared intelligence with the United States prior to the Christmas Day airstrikes carried out by US forces against suspected Islamic State fighters in northwestern Nigeria.
The confirmation came amid strained diplomatic relations between Abuja and Washington, which had followed remarks by US President Donald Trump accusing Nigeria of failing to stop widespread killings of Christians in the context of its ongoing security challenges.
Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar disclosed that Nigeria was directly involved in the intelligence process leading to the strikes during an interview on Channels Television.
“It’s Nigeria that provided the intelligence,” Tuggar said, adding that he engaged in direct consultations with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio before the military action.
According to the minister, the discussions with US officials were extensive and took place shortly before the operation commenced.
“We spoke twice. We spoke for 19 minutes before the strike and then we spoke again for another five minutes before it went on,” Tuggar stated.
He said President Bola Tinubu approved the airstrikes and noted that the action formed part of a wider counterterrorism effort rather than a single, isolated mission.
Tuggar explained that the broader operation would not be limited to Nigeria, although he declined to identify other countries involved in the campaign.
The foreign minister stressed that Nigeria’s approach to counterterrorism is based strictly on security imperatives and not religious considerations, noting that the government remains committed to protecting all citizens.
“whether they are Muslims or Christians, and irrespective of what type of terrorism”.
Trump, however, linked the airstrikes to attacks on Christians in Nigeria, making the claim in a social media post.
“I had previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was.”
Meanwhile, the United States Department of Defense’s Africa Command confirmed that the operation resulted in the killing of “multiple ISIS terrorists” during the airstrikes carried out in Sokoto State, using the acronym for the Islamic State group.
