The Nigeria Police Force has said it is aware of the recent United States airstrikes against terrorists in Sokoto State but will not disclose details of the operation.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, stated this on Tuesday while speaking on Politics Today, a flagship political programme on Channels Television and monitored by The Guardian.

Hundeyin said the police were deeply involved in intelligence gathering and cooperation but would refrain from commenting publicly on the strikes.

“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 said .

The police spokesman added that while there was cooperation among security agencies, the matter remained within the purview of defence authorities.

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

The comments followed confirmation that the United States carried out airstrikes against terrorist targets in Sokoto on December 25, 2025.

The US Department of Defense said the strikes killed “multiple ISIS terrorists” and were conducted at the request of the Nigerian government.

US President Donald Trump announced the operation on his Truth Social platform, describing the strikes as decisive and warning terrorist groups against further violence.

“The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing,” Trump wrote. “Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper.”

He added a controversial Christmas message, saying further action would follow if attacks on Christians continued.

Following the announcement, the Federal Government confirmed that the operation was jointly planned and approved by President Bola Tinubu.

Speaking on Sunrise Daily on Boxing Day, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, said the strikes were part of a broader security partnership with the United States.

“Now that the US is cooperating, we would do it jointly, and we would ensure, just as the President emphasised yesterday before he gave the go-ahead, that it must be made clear that it is a joint operation,” Tuggar said.

He stressed that the operation was not directed at any religious group.

“It is not targeting any religion nor simply in the name of one religion or the other,” the minister said.

“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.”

The airstrikes came amid heightened diplomatic tension following Trump’s repeated comments on alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

The US president had previously declared Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern, claiming that Christians in the country faced an “existential threat” amounting to “genocide”.

However, the Federal Government strongly rejected the claims, insisting that insecurity in Nigeria affects all communities regardless of religion.