Nigeria has confirmed it played a crucial intelligence role in the United States military strikes against Islamic State militants on its soil on Christmas Day. The country's foreign minister stated that Nigerian authorities provided key information to Washington prior to the operation.
Coordination Before the Christmas Day Strikes
Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar disclosed on Friday that he was in direct communication with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio before the action took place. Tuggar told broadcaster ChannelsTV that Nigeria "provided" the intelligence that facilitated the strikes.
Detailing the coordination, Tuggar said, "We spoke twice. We spoke for 19 minutes before the strike and then we spoke again for another five minutes before it went on." He added that the discussions were "extensive" and that President Bola Tinubu personally gave "the go-ahead" for the strikes to proceed.
Trump's Announcement and Justification
The strikes were publicly announced on Thursday by US President Donald Trump via his Truth Social platform. Trump stated the US military had executed "powerful and deadly" action against ISIS militants in northwest Nigeria.
In his post, the President justified the intervention by citing the group's targeting of Christians. "I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was," Trump wrote. He claimed the militants had been killing at "levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries."
An Ongoing Collaborative Effort
Minister Tuggar indicated that the operation marked the beginning of an "ongoing process" that would involve further collaboration and potentially other nations. However, he did not provide specific details about future plans or the identities of other potential partner countries.
This development follows previous statements from Trump, who had vowed a "guns-a-blazing" US military intervention in Nigeria. He has repeatedly criticised the Nigerian government's efforts to prevent attacks on Christian communities by Islamist militant groups operating in the region.
The confirmation from Abuja clarifies the nature of the US action, framing it not as a unilateral intervention but as a coordinated effort based on shared intelligence. It underscores the complex security partnership between the two nations in combating jihadist threats in West Africa.
