Former senator Shehu Sani has described the reported navy airstrikes on terrorist targets in North West Nigeria as a “conscionable motion,” whereas stressing that Nigeria should finally take duty for its personal safety.
Sani reacted in a press release shared by way of his verified X deal with on Friday, following feedback by United States President, Donald Trump, who stated on Thursday that US forces had carried out lethal strikes in opposition to Islamic State terrorists in Northwestern Nigeria.
“Tonight, at my path as Commander in Chief, the US launched a robust and lethal strike in opposition to ISIS terrorist scum in Northwest Nigeria, who’ve been concentrating on and viciously killing, primarily, harmless Christians,” Trump wrote on his Reality Social platform.
In a separate social media publish, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth stated Washington acted with Nigeria’s cooperation.
“Grateful for Nigerian authorities help & cooperation,” Hegseth wrote, including that the Division of Battle was “at all times prepared.”
Reacting, Sani stated, “If really, the navy strikes in opposition to the terrorists’ targets within the North Western a part of Nigeria have been a joint operation with the ‘Nigerian Authorities’ as posted by the US AFRICOM on their verified X deal with, then it’s a conscionable motion.”
He stated terrorist {groups} working in components of the nation posed a grave threat to nationwide stability, describing them as “cancerous cells.”
“Terrorists have develop into cancerous cells in our a part of the nation. They dwell by the sword,” he stated.
The previous lawmaker additionally rejected claims that terrorist violence in Nigeria targets just one non secular group, describing such narratives as deceptive.
“The narrative that the evil terrorists solely goal one religion stays completely false and deceptive,” Sani said.
Nonetheless, he warned in opposition to over-reliance on international navy intervention, insisting that lasting peace have to be pushed internally.
“Once more, the last word safety and peace in our nation lies with ourselves and never with the US or any international energy,” he stated. “They’ll complementarily or unilaterally strike, however they’ll’t eternally battle our battles.”
Sani’s feedback come amid current airstrikes in North West Nigeria, which the Ministry of Overseas Affairs stated focused terrorist components by way of collaboration with the US as a part of “structured safety cooperation with worldwide companions, together with the US of America,” to deal with terrorism and violent extremism within the nation.
The Director of Defence Info, Maj.-Gen. Samaila Uba, had stated the operation demonstrated the Federal Authorities’s resolve, in collaboration with strategic worldwide companions, to confront transnational terrorism and stop international fighters from gaining a foothold in Nigeria.
The airstrikes adopted current safety incidents throughout the nation, together with a lethal bombing at a mosque in Maiduguri, Borno State, which killed a number of worshippers, underscoring the broader problem of terrorism and violent extremism affecting communities throughout non secular strains.