President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has confirmed that he authorised the recent United States strikes on terrorist camps in Nigeria’s Northwest region.
Tinubu, through the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, disclosed this on Friday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump and the U.S. Department of Defense announced that American forces had carried out strikes against terrorist targets in Nigeria.
ALSO READ Trump announces U.S. strikes on Islamic State targets in Nigeria
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Tuggar said the operation was jointly coordinated and approved by the Nigerian government.
“Now that the U.S. is cooperating, we are doing it jointly, and as the President emphasised before giving the go-ahead, it must be clear that this is a joint operation. It is not targeting any religion, nor carried out in the name of one religion or another,” he said.
He stressed that Nigeria remains a multi-religious country and is working with international partners, including the United States, to combat terrorism and protect lives and property.
Tuggar also addressed concerns that the strikes could amount to a violation of Nigeria’s territorial integrity, insisting that the Federal Government would not take any action that undermines the country’s sovereignty.
“It is a collaboration. It is what we have been calling for,” the minister said.
Details later.
