Abuja has confirmed it provided critical intelligence to the United States ahead of the Christmas Day airstrikes targeting Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Nigeria’s North West, according to Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar.
Speaking on ChannelsTV on Friday, Tuggar said he coordinated directly with US State Secretary Marco Rubio, confirming that President Bola Tinubu had authorised the operation.
“It’s Nigeria that provided the intelligence. We spoke twice—once for 19 minutes and again for five minutes before the strike went on,” Tuggar said, adding that discussions were “extensive” and fully approved by the Nigerian leadership.
The US military operation, which President Donald Trump described on social media as a decisive strike against ISIS militants, comes after a diplomatic dispute between Abuja and Washington over Trump’s claims of mass killings of Christians in the country.
Tuggar emphasised that Nigeria’s counter-terrorism efforts are not guided by religion. “Our approach to terrorism is neutral—whether the victims are Muslims or Christians, and regardless of the type of terrorism involved,” he said.
Trump, in a social media post, said he 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.”
The US Department of Defense’s Africa Command (AFRICOM) confirmed that “multiple ISIS terrorists” were killed in Sokoto State during the operation.
This development highlights the growing collaboration between Nigeria and international partners in confronting Islamist militancy in the Sahel region and preventing attacks on vulnerable communities.
Babatunde Akinsola ✔
Babatunde Akinsola is aNaija247news' Southwest editor. He's based in Lagos and writes on the Yoruba Nation political issues, news and investigative reports
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