The Nigerian military has dismissed claims by a senior United States official that American forces seized a large cache of electronic intelligence materials from terrorists during an operation in Nigeria.
The Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General Samalia Uba, clarified that the materials referenced were declassified intelligence gathered from previous counter-terrorism operations conducted by the Nigerian Armed Forces. He said the information was voluntarily shared with the United States as part of an existing security cooperation between both countries.
According to Uba, the intelligence was not recovered by US forces during any independent operation in Nigeria, contrary to claims made by American officials.
“The materials were given to the US,” Uba stated, explaining that the exchange formed part of the longstanding counter-terrorism partnership between Nigeria and the United States.
His remarks represent the first official response from Nigerian authorities following comments by Sebastian Gorka, the US Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council.
Gorka had claimed that US operators killed 199 jihadists during an operation in Nigeria and recovered what he described as the largest cache of enemy electronic intelligence since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“I watched our operators kill 199 jihadis in one operation and seize an unprecedented volume of intelligence materials,” Gorka said.
However, Brigadier General Uba rejected the suggestion that American forces independently seized the materials from terrorists on Nigerian soil, stressing that the intelligence was officially released by the Nigerian government under an established security collaboration.
“It is not a new operation. We have previously communicated our highly successful joint operations in May. Nigeria-US joint operations and collaboration are very much on course,” he added.
The clarification comes amid growing public interest in the nature of military cooperation between Nigeria and the United States in the fight against terrorism, with Nigerian authorities reiterating that intelligence sharing remains a key component of the bilateral security partnership.
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