US-NIGERIA COOPERATION DELIVERS PRECISE BLOWS TO ISWAP TERRORISTS
GREATRIBUNETVNEWS–THE Nigerian government has confirmed cooperation with the US on airstrikes targeting ISIS-affiliated militants in northwest Nigeria, describing the attacks as “precision hits on terrorist targets” carried out in cooperation with the United States .
Key Developments:
– Airstrikes : US Africa Command conducted strikes in Sokoto state, killing multiple ISIS militants, at Nigeria’s request.
– Government Response : Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasizes cooperation is based on mutual respect for sovereignty, intelligence exchange, and strategic coordination.
– Security Context : Armed groups target both Muslims and Christians; President Bola Tinubu declares security emergency and orders mass recruitment.
– Leadership Reactions : Governor Abdullahi Sule dismisses claims of religious genocide, while Governor Ademola Adeleke appeals for renewed US-Nigeria diplomatic engagement
U.S. and Nigerian officials have indicated that the operation is part of broader ongoing efforts to combat ISIS-linked groups across Africa, though further updates on the military engagement are expected in the coming days.
GREATRIBUNETVNEWS reports that Trump recently designated Nigeria a country of particular concern over religious genocide in the country and threatened that US will come guns ablazing to weed out the jihadists.
A delegation of Nigerian government led by Nuhu Ribadu visited US in a diplomatic mission to defuse the tension and explain to America that there was no Christian genocide in the country and that insurgents were killing both Christians and Muslims alike.
Also, a delegation led by United States Congressman, Riley Moore led a delegation to Nigeria on a fact finding mission. Moore described his recent visit to Nigeria as distressing marked by his harrowing experiences of victims of violent attacks, particularly in the Middle Belt region.
The five-member team spent several days in Benue State, meeting internally displaced persons, survivors of attacks, Christian leaders, traditional rulers, and communities affected by violence.
They also held meetings in Abuja with the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi.
Moore told Fox news that his trip exposed him to the human cost of insecurity in Nigeria, particularly among vulnerable communities affected by terrorism and communal violence in the North.
Moore said he met women who had survived brutal assaults that claimed the lives of their families. “It is really heartbreaking. I met a woman who unfortunately had to witness all five of her children murdered right in front of her. I met another woman in an internally displaced persons camp who lost her husband and her two daughters, and the Fulani Islamic radicals had murdered her unborn child—they took it out of her. She survived that, and they are all living in these IDP camps.
“There is a systematic genocidal campaign by the Fulani Muslim radicals in the Middle Belt of this country to push these Christians off their ancestral land,” he said.
The US lawmaker alleged that the violence in parts of the Middle Belt amounted to a coordinated campaign against Christian communities, claiming they are being driven off their ancestral lands.
“There is a systematic genocidal campaign by the Fulani Muslim radicals in the Middle Belt of this country to push these Christians off their ancestral land,” he said.
The Congressman described Nigeria’s security crisis as multi-layered, stressing the need for a comprehensive approach that addresses both terrorism in the North East and what he termed persecution in the Middle Belt.
“The problem is two-tier, and we have to address this Christian persecution and genocide that is happening in the Middle Belt of this country,” he said
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