The former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has described as false a report by The New York Times which claimed that United States airstrikes on parts of Sokoto State were carried out using intelligence from a civilian source rather than Nigerian authorities.
In a post on X, Fani-Kayode said it was inconceivable that the U.S. government would rely on information from a private individual using online mapping tools to execute a military strike.
He maintained that such an operation could only have been conducted based on intelligence shared through formal cooperation between U.S. and Nigerian security agencies.
Fani-Kayode further accused the newspaper of publishing a misleading and damaging account aimed at undermining the credibility of both the Nigerian and U.S. governments, as well as their intelligence systems.
He noted that Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, had already clarified that the airstrikes were carried out in collaboration with Nigeria’s Armed Forces and intelligence agencies.
According to him, he personally spoke with the minister shortly after the strike, during which Tuggar confirmed that the intelligence used was provided by the Nigerian government and explained the sequence of events that led to the operation.
Rejecting the report as inaccurate and unprofessional, Fani-Kayode insisted that no sovereign nation would allow military action on its territory without official intelligence coordination.
He wrote, “Anyone that honestly believes that the U.S. Government based its intelligence to bomb parts of Sokoto State on the intel supplied by an Onitsha-based screwdriver-seller who used Google map to source his information and not on the intel supplied by the Nigerian intelligence services must have a low IQ, low self-esteem and a low intelligence quotient. I respectfully urge such a person to get sense.
“The false and mischievous narrative which has been purposely put out by the New York Times to belittle, demean, embarrass and debase both the Nigerian and the U.S. Governments and their intelligence-gathering capabilities is puerile and childish.
“No country will allow its country to be bombed in the name of fighting ISIS or anyone else on the words of an Onitsha utensils trader and neither would the Americans take such a precipitous and consequential course of action on the words of such an individual.
“Things just don’t work that way. The Nigerian Foreign Minister @YusufTuggar has made it clear that the Americans took the action in collaboration with our Armed Forces and Intelligence agencies and that the intel they used to do so was given to them by our Government.
“I spoke with him exactly ten minutes after the bombing took place and he not only assured me of this but also provided me with details of the build-up to the event.
“The New York Times story can best be described as not only fake news but also nothing but a hefty load of disingenuous and infantile hogwash and the paper is best flushed down the toilet. Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he concluded.