Foreign Minister Yusuf Tugar said Nigeria provided intelligence leading to US airstrikes against terrorist targets in the country and formally approved the operation before it was carried out.
According to Punch News, Tagger disclosed this during a talk on Channels TV on Friday.
The minister said the operation was a product of ongoing security cooperation between Nigeria and the United States and was not motivated by religious considerations.
He said: “Nigeria provided the information. Yesterday I had a 19-minute phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. We had a thorough discussion and agreed that we would speak to President Tinubu to give him the green light.”
“And I spoke to him and it was also agreed that the subsequent statement would be a clear statement that this was an attack on terrorism, part of an ongoing joint operation between Nigeria, and part of cooperation between Nigeria and the United States.”
Tager said Nigeria has long sought deeper cooperation with the United States and other countries to fight terrorism, and said the attack was a vindication of the Tinubu administration’s security strategy.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
The minister said Nigeria has consistently maintained its approach of working with all partners committed to the fight against terrorism, irrespective of the religion, the identity of the victim, whether Muslim or Christian, and the type of terrorism involved, such as religiously motivated attacks or robberies.
He also said the operation was a clear demonstration of Nigeria’s commitment and readiness to work with all countries for those who think the government’s efforts are not enough.
He stressed that the operation has nothing to do with religion and its sole objective is to protect innocent lives, whether Nigerian or foreigners.
He further explained that the authorities communicated with the parties twice to clarify this, once for 19 minutes before the strike and again for five minutes before the strike was carried out.
Months before the attack, US President Donald Trump had warned that the US government could take action against terrorist groups operating in Nigeria, citing repeated attacks and what he described as violence targeting Christian communities.
His comments drew mixed reactions in Nigeria, with officials stressing that the insecurity in the country was not religiously motivated and that both Muslims and Christians had been victims of terrorism and banditry.
Nigeria has faced multiple security threats for years, including insurgency by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province in the northeast, as well as banditry and terrorist attacks across the northwest, resulting in thousands of deaths and widespread displacement.
