ABUJA, Nigeria – The Federal Government says President Bola Tinubu personally approved the recent United States airstrikes on terrorist targets in Nigeria’s North-West, stressing that the operation is a joint effort that does not target any religion.
Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar disclosed this on Friday, hours after US President Donald Trump and the US Department of Defense announced the strikes.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Tuggar says Nigeria provides intelligence support and maintains full sovereignty over the operation. “It must be made clear that it is a joint operation,” Tuggar says. “It is not targeting any religion nor carried out in the name of one faith or another.”
The minister reveals that Nigeria supplies intelligence for the strikes and that he holds direct consultations with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio both before and shortly before the operation receives presidential approval.
On Thursday, the US Department of Defense confirmed that “multiple ISIS terrorists” are killed in strikes conducted in Sokoto State, with AFRICOM describing the mission as coordinated with Nigerian authorities.
Join the conversation