After US President Donald Trump announced that the US forces conducted deadly airstrikes against Islamic State terrorists in northwestern Nigeria, the Nigerian Federal Government issued a statement on the US action, acknowledging that the strikes did “respect Nigeria’s sovereignty and international law”.
The statement read: “Nigeria remains engaged in structured security cooperation with international partners, including the United States, to address terrorism and violent extremism, following air strikes on terrorist targets in the North West.”
It added that the US attacks were in line with established international practice and bilateral understandings. “This cooperation includes the exchange of intelligence, strategic coordination, and other forms of support consistent with international law, mutual respect for sovereignty, and shared commitments to regional and global security,” the statement from the Federal Government said.
It added that all counter terrorism efforts are guided by the primacy of protecting civilian lives, safeguarding national unity, and upholding the rights and dignity of all citizens, irrespective of faith or ethnicity.
On the attacks against Christians in the country, the Federal Government said the terrorist violence against any group remains unacceptable.
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After the attack, Trump stated that he had 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 posted on his Truth Social platform.
Though he did not give additional details, Trump said the American military was capable of executing the “numerous perfect strikes”. As per reports, over a dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from a naval ship in the Gulf of Guinea, targeting insurgents in two ISIS camps in the northwestern state of Sokoto. This comes after Trump had threatened to go into Nigeria “guns a-blazing” over what he said was a failure to stop violence targeting Christian communities.
There were reports of Christians being attacked by several Muslim groups, such as Boko Haram, Fulani, and Islamic State West Africa Province, in Nigeria. Over 16.2 million Christians across Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa have been displaced, and many are kidnapped, sexually assaulted, or have their homes and churches burned. Nigeria’s population of 230 million people is split roughly evenly between Christians and Muslims.