Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has disclosed that Nigerian intelligence played a central role in the recent United States airstrike carried out in the country as part of a joint counterterrorism operation.
It would be recalled that the United States, under President Trump’s command, had launched Airstrikes on terrorists in Northern Nigeria.
Nigeria’s minister of Foreign Affairs speaks
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday, Tuggar stated that Nigeria supplied the intelligence that informed the strike and worked closely with US authorities throughout the process.
According to the minister, he held extensive consultations with the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, ahead of the operation. He explained that the discussions included multiple phone calls before the strike was executed.
Tuggar revealed that the talks with US officials culminated in consultations with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who granted approval for the operation after being fully briefed.
He added that both Nigeria and the United States agreed on how the operation would be communicated to the public, stressing that it was a counterterrorism action conducted under an existing joint security framework between the two countries.
He emphasizes strikes targeted at terrorists
The minister emphasized that the airstrike had no religious motivation, noting that its sole objective was to combat terrorism and protect Nigerian lives.
His words in part …
“It’s Nigeria that provided the intelligence. We have been working closely with the Americans. This is what we’ve always been hoping for to work the the Americans and other countries to combat t£rrorism and stop the d£ath of innocent Nigerians. This is a vindication of Tinubu administration for those who thought there was some foot dragging, or that the government wasn’t doing enough.
I was on the phone for 19 minutes with the US secretary of State Marco Rubio. We spoke extensively and we agreed that I was going to speak with president Tinubu to give the go ahead. We also agreed that the statement that would follow would clearly show that this was a strike against terrorism, part of an ongoing joint operation between Nigeria and the United States
This has nothing to do with religion. It is about protecting Nigerians.”