Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, has described the United States’ Christmas Day airstrike on suspected Islamist militants in northwest Nigeria as a welcome intervention, while calling for deeper security cooperation between Abuja and Washington.
Speaking during a week-long visit to Washington, D.C., Tinubu told Fox News Digital that Nigeria appreciated the U.S. action and was hopeful of further collaboration to confront terrorism, banditry and kidnapping. She said the federal government was eager to strengthen security ties with the U.S. as insecurity continues to threaten lives across the country.
Her comments come amid ongoing debate in the United States over violence in Nigeria, particularly claims that Christian communities are being targeted. While some U.S. lawmakers have pushed this narrative—previously leading to Nigeria being designated a “country of particular concern” over religious freedom—the Tinubu administration has rejected the label, insisting that insecurity affects both Muslim and Christian communities.
Tinubu pointed to recent attacks in which Muslim-majority villages were also targeted, arguing that the crisis is driven by terrorism and criminality rather than religion. She said the government has responded with measures including declaring a security emergency, recruiting thousands of new police officers and redeploying personnel from VIP duties to high-risk areas.
The Christmas Day strike, a rare case of direct U.S. military action inside Nigeria, has sparked mixed reactions at home, raising questions about sovereignty while underscoring the scale of the country’s security challenges. The intervention also comes as the Tinubu administration faces scrutiny over multimillion-dollar contracts with U.S. lobbying firms aimed at countering allegations of religious persecution and improving relations with Washington, amid growing congressional interest in Nigeria’s security situation.