The Presidency has reaffirmed that President Bola Tinubu gave the go-ahead for the United States airstrikes against terrorists in the country’s North-West region.
The strike, which occurred on Christmas Day in north-west Nigeria, targeted terrorists operating under the aegis of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which has been responsible for acts of terrorism across the country.
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President of the United States, Donald Trump, had announced that the American government attacked the terrorist base on his orders.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, in a statement on his X handle on Friday, reiterated the position of Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, that the strike was carried out in collaboration with the Nigerian government.
Tuggar stated this on Friday, hours after the US Department of Defense and President Donald Trump announced that the North American nation had conducted strikes against the terrorists.
“Now that the US is cooperating, we would do it jointly, and we would ensure, just as the President emphasised yesterday before he gave the go-ahead, that it must be made clear that it is a joint operation, and it is not targeting any religion nor carried out in the name of one religion or the other,” the minister said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“We are a multi-religious country, and we are working with partners like the US to fight terrorism and safeguard the lives and property of Nigerians,” he added.
Onanuga’s reaffirmation came amid criticisms that trailed the US government’s action, with some describing it as a violation of Nigeria’s sovereignty.
According to Onanuga, “Some have viewed the strikes as a violation of the country’s territorial integrity, but Tuggar says the Federal Government would not take any action that violates Nigeria’s sovereignty.”
Following Nigeria’s designation as a “Country of Particular Concern” by President Donald Trump over alleged attacks against Christians, President Tinubu had constituted a powerful team headed by Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser (NSA), to interface with the American government and coordinate all actions relating to the response to terrorism in Nigeria.
