…Nigeria Provided Intelligence, Says Tuggar
Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar has described yesterday’s U.S. military airstrikes on terrorist targets within the country as a vindication of President Bola Tinubu.
According to Tuggar, the strikes prove Tinubu’s resolve to eliminate terrorists in the country.
Tuggar who disclosed this on Friday during an interview on Channels Television also stated that the Nigerian government provided intelligence that led to the strike and approved the operation before it was carried out.
According to Tuggar, the airstrikes were the result of ongoing security cooperation between Nigeria and the United States and had no religious motivation. He said the operation was jointly coordinated and received presidential approval before execution.
“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.”
Tuggar said he subsequently spoke with President Bola Tinubu, who approved the operation, adding that both governments also agreed on how the strike would be publicly communicated.
“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 collaboration between Nigeria and the United States,” he said.
The minister described the strike as a vindication of the Tinubu administration’s security strategy, noting that Nigeria has consistently sought deeper cooperation with international partners in its fight against terrorism.
“Nigeria has remained consistent in its approach, which is to work with all partners that are committed to the fight against terrorism, irrespective of what religion, who the victims are, whether they are Muslims or Christians, and irrespective of what type of terrorism,” Tuggar said.
He added that Nigeria has long hoped for closer collaboration with the United States and other countries to curb insecurity and prevent the loss of innocent lives.
“This is what we’ve always been hoping for: to work with the Americans, work with other countries to combat terrorism, to stop the death of innocent Nigerians. So this is a vindication of the Tinubu administration,” he said.
Tuggar stressed that the operation was not targeted at any religious group but was solely aimed at protecting lives.
“It is not to do with religion; it is to do with protecting Nigerians and the innocent lives of either Nigerians or non-Nigerians,” he said, adding that discussions with US officials took place both before and after the strike.
Months earlier, Trump had warned that the United States could take action against terrorist groups in Nigeria, citing repeated attacks and violence against Christian communities.
His comments at the time drew mixed reactions, with Nigerian officials insisting that the country’s security challenges were not religiously driven and that both Muslims and Christians had been victims of terrorism and banditry.
However, In a post on his Truth Social account on Thursday, Trump said the strikes targeted ISIS-linked terrorists in northwest Nigeria, accusing the group of carrying out attacks on Christian communities in the region.
“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria,” Trump wrote.
Shortly after the announcement, the Nigerian government confirmed the strikes in a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Leave a Comment