Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, has described the Christmas Day U.S. military airstrikes on Islamist militants in Sokoto State as a “blessing,” signalling Abuja’s openness to deeper security cooperation with Washington.
Speaking to Fox News Digital during a week-long visit to the United States, Tinubu said the intervention was welcomed by Nigeria as it continues to confront insurgent groups and armed criminal networks operating across several regions.
“The intervention of the U.S. was quite a welcome development,” Tinubu said. She added that Nigeria is seeking broader collaboration with the United States on security matters. “Nigeria is looking forward to collaboration” with the US on security issues. “We are expecting that there will be more.”
The airstrikes, which reportedly targeted Islamist militants in north-west Nigeria, have intensified debate in U.S. political circles over security and religious violence in Africa’s most populous country. During his previous term, Donald Trump designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern” over alleged violations of religious freedom, a label the administration of Bola Tinubu has rejected.