Police Withhold Details on US Airstrikes in Sokoto

The Nigeria Police Force has confirmed it has information on the US airstrikes against terrorists in Sokoto State but will not make the details public.

Force PRO Benjamin Hundeyin told Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday:

“We engage a lot in intelligence gathering, not just intelligence sharing. As the Police Force, we know certain things about the strikes, but we don’t want to talk about them. We decline to talk about that particular operation.”

He added that while the operation involved cooperation among agencies, it should be addressed by defence authorities:

“There was a cooperation, but we would rather leave it as a defence matter that the defence would talk about.”

The strikes, carried out on December 25, 2025, killed “multiple ISIS terrorists,” according to the US Department of Defence. US President Donald Trump said:

“The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians.”

Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar confirmed the government approved the operation and provided the intelligence:

“It’s Nigeria that provided the intelligence, We are a multi-religious country, and we are working with partners like the US to fight terrorism and safeguard the lives and properties of Nigerians.”

Footage obtained by Sunday PUNCH showed several terrorists killed, hideouts and vehicles destroyed, and suspects fleeing the area.