By Kevin Akor
ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria’s first lady, Oluremi Tinubu, has called for increased U.S. military strikes against terrorist and bandit groups operating in northern Nigeria, describing recent American airstrikes as a “blessing” for the country.
Mrs. Tinubu made the remarks in an interview with Fox News on Friday during an official visit to the United States.
“Nigeria is looking forward to collaboration,” she said.
“We are expecting that there will be more.”
Asked specifically about the Christmas Day U.S. airstrikes ordered by President Donald Trump against terrorist targets in Sokoto state, Mrs. Tinubu said, “It was quite a blessing.”
She spoke a day after attending the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, where Mr. Trump praised her publicly. Her visit comes months after Nigeria’s government engaged U.S. Republican lobbyists in an effort to improve its standing in Washington, following Mr. Trump’s 2025 remarks describing Nigeria as “a disgrace” under President Bola Tinubu’s leadership.
Mr. Trump announced on Christmas Day that the U.S. military had carried out a series of airstrikes against terrorist targets in northern Nigeria, marking Washington’s first known kinetic military action in the West African country.
“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in North-West Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians,” Mr. Trump said in a statement posted late Thursday on his Truth Social platform.
In January, the U.S. president warned that American airstrikes in northern Nigeria would continue if attacks on Christians persisted.
“I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” Mr. Trump said at the time. “But if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike.”
The announcement followed reports that U.S. forces had been conducting intelligence-gathering flights over Nigerian airspace since November, after Mr. Trump threatened military action to eliminate militant groups accused of targeting Christian communities.
Mr. Trump described the Christmas Day operation as a gift, saying the strikes were carried out after what he called repeated warnings to armed groups in the region.
“I have previously warned these terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was,” he said.
“Under my leadership, our country will not allow radical Islamic terrorism to prosper.”
Nigeria has for more than a decade battled insurgent groups, bandits and criminal gangs across its northern regions, with attacks frequently targeting civilians and security forces.
